Just one in five (21%) of older consumers, aged 45 and over, are aware of Consumer Duty, with 38% aware of the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), research by Air has found.

A survey by the later life lending professional was conducted to better understand whether Consumer Duty and its importance had made its onto people’s radars.

Of those aware of Consumer Duty, only half (50%) were confident that it would have a positive impact on consumers themselves. However, only 10% said that it would have a negative effect.

Despite the lack of awareness of Consumer Duty and the role of the FCA, the survey did find that older consumers had a strong awareness of what good customer outcomes looked like, with 44% citing a clear explanation of fees and charges.

The survey also found that customers had also listed checks and balances to avoid fraud (34%) and ease of contact (27%) as important.

Chief executive officer at Air, Paul Glynn, said: “While it will come as no surprise to many that the regulatory changes that the industry has been working on for the past year have not hit the radar of the most consumers, the standards that they expect from financial services companies are clear and will be delivered by this regulation. The need for customers to be protected from fraud and scams is something that the later life lending industry is arguably not only doing but is a step ahead with the use of independent legal advice and a real focus on supporting vulnerability.

“However, the desire for fees and charges to be appropriate and clearly explained goes to the heart of fair value and is something that as an industry, we need to ensure we listen to. The remuneration that advisers receive needs to be commensurate to the high-quality service provided and we should not be afraid to question the status quo with the objective of providing good customer outcomes.

“Customer understanding and support are also part of the outcomes that Consumer Duty seeks to deliver, and this research clearly underlines how important customers think these issues are. As an industry, this new legislation provides us with the opportunity to review our systems and processes to ensure that following the end of July, we are better positioned than ever before to support the increasing numbers of older borrowers who seek our advice.”

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