The first of our new regular feature “Focus On….”
As the new Consumer Duty regulations continue to be implemented across the commercial finance sector, our Board have agreed and begun the process of reviewing our lender panel. This will ensure that our offering is fit for purpose and provides our clients the reassurance that they are being offered the most appropriate funding options.
Our current panel boats over 300 lenders, however as our commitment to the Consumer Duty journey, we have agreed a process to conduct a review of these lenders to ensure that they are working to the guidelines the FCA have set out to protect our clients from any potential financial harm and produce positive outcomes. The four outcomes in the Duty relate to:
- products and services
- price and value
- consumer understanding
- consumer support
We have built a robust plan to allow us to meet the timescales set by the FCA and to allow our customers to make effective decisions based on products that provide fair value. Lenders will be expected to provide us with a suite of documents that demonstrate their target market for each product and justification of fair pricing and value for customers and any risks associated.
We have scheduled the first handful of lender meetings where we will review their lending criteria and discuss any pressing issues regards their products and services that may affect both new clients and existing customers.
If you would like to discuss any element of commercial finance for yourself or a client then please get in touch here and we would be more than happy to help.