The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA) has urged the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure proposed reforms to the redress system include clear safeguards for vulnerable consumers.

The group warned that victims of economic and domestic abuse could be blocked from accessing redress if another eligible complainant refuses to provide consent.

In its response to the FOS and FCA consultation on modernising the redress system, TISA also warned against any approach that could exclude smaller-value complaints where the sums involved may still be significant to the consumer, while welcoming proposals to improve alignment, predictability and early engagement and calling for swift implementation to support Targeted Support.

Head of policy: consumer protection and access, Sophie LeGrand-Green, commented that “the redress system exists to put things right when something has gone wrong”.

“While speed and predictability are important, shutting out vulnerable consumers when they most need help would fail the very people the system is supposed to protect,” LeGrand-Green said.

“Victims of domestic and economic abuse must not be blocked from redress because a partner refuses to cooperate, nor should smaller claims be dismissed where the sums involved are significant to the consumer.”

TISA has also recommended that the FOS and FCA set clear service standards for the proposed registration stage, so that consumers and firms understand expected timelines, while also limiting any power to move complaints back to pre-registration, and clarifying how complaints will be handled where a firm deliberately withholds information or delays engagement.

“A modernised redress system is an important prerequisite for the success of Targeted Support, so we urge the FOS and FCA to implement these proposals as soon as possible, at least by the end of Q3 2026,” LeGrand-Green added.

“Done well, these reforms should strengthen confidence in the redress system, protect consumers when they are most exposed, and give firms the certainty to build better products and services for the future.”

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