Welcome to Sheffield Mutual's Consumer Duty Page
The Consumer Duty puts our mutual clients’ needs first, through a higher and clearer set of standards of consumer protection. Sheffield Mutual welcome the Duty and the positive changes it will have on delivering good outcomes for our members and for the industry as a whole. To support your delivery of the Duty we have shared below our Target Market and Fair Value Assessment documents for all our products.
What is the Consumer Duty, a brief summary
The Consumer Duty puts members’ needs first through a higher and clearer set of standards of consumer protection. The FCA has said the Duty is a fundamental change to the industry which will lead to a major shift in how financial services firm treat their customers. The Duty is formed of the following components:
A consumer principle (Principle 12) – Act to deliver good outcomes for members (consumers).
Cross cutting rules – three overarching requirements to be applied across all areas of the Society to ensure good outcomes for members (consumers) are delivered:
- Act in good faith
- Avoid causing foreseeable harm
- Enable and support members to pursue their financial objectives
Four outcomes – a set of rules and guidance setting out more detailed expectations:
- Products and services
- Price and value
- Consumer understanding
- Consumer support
When is the Consumer Duty being implemented?
31 October 2022 – Board to have agreed implementation plan and oversight of delivery
30 April 2023 – The Society to have shared key information with intermediaries
31 July 2023 – implementation date for open book products
31 July 2024 – implementation date for closed book products
Consumer Support
Our Yorkshire based team can be contacted via our one and only phone number, which we aim to answer within three rings. This phone number connects directly to our member facing team; meaning anyone calling us can reach and speak to a real person without having to wait and go through multiple menu items.
There is no difference in the time it takes to talk to someone about: applying for a policy as a new or existing member, servicing an existing policy or closing (surrendering) investments.
All our calls are recorded to enable us to provide training and development, improve our service and for the protection of the caller.
We will always give an applicant suitable time to reflect before opening a policy, and likewise should a member require to surrender an investment we will not put any unnecessary barriers in place.
If a member is experiencing financial hardship or finds themselves in a vulnerable situation, we encourage them to contact us so we can look at tailored solutions.