Alphera provides dealer guidance on Consumer Duty

Alphera Financial Services is providing dealers on its books with a range of guidance documents and videos for the new Consumer Duty, which comes into effect on 31 July.

The materials address dealer obligations under the new rules, including terms and conditions, target markets, fixed payments and interest for PCP products.

There are also recommendations for motor retailers to address the FCA’s requirements regarding ‘Culture and Governance’, including:

• Nominate an internal Consumer Duty Champion to monitor implementation and compliance.
• Introduce tiered staff training so that everyone understands their specific roles in delivering Consumer Duty.
• Ensure remuneration and incentive structures promote the right behaviours among staff and deliver good customer outcomes.
• Work out what changes are needed to monitor relevant activities, including what additional evidence might be needed to evidence compliance.
• Revisit policies and procedures to ensure that they are delivering good outcomes for customers.
• Consider any other ways in which culture and governance needs to change to support the delivery of good customer outcomes.

The finance house has appointed its own Consumer Duty Champion and has Vulnerable Customer Advisors within its Collections Department.

The FCA started an initial consultation into the Consumer Duty in May 2021, and stringent new standards of protection across financial services have now been set out, requiring dealers and finance companies to act in good faith towards customers.

Alex Royall, director for ALPHERA Financial Services said: “We want to make sure that we and our partners are more than ready for the implementation of the Consumer Duty.

“In the lead-up to the deadline, we have requested detailed feedback from partners to further enhance the information we provide.”