We hope that you’ve had a wonderful Christmas – we certainly have – and are now ready to welcome in the new year.
So, here’s our last compliance update of 2018…
News from the ICO
Fines are continuing to be enforced in relation to contacting consumers who are registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). These are being distributed under regulation 21 of PECR, which states that unsolicited contact calls must not be made when the subscriber has requested that marketing calls shouldn’t be received on that line.
Its against the law to make these calls to numbers which have been registered with TPS for more than 28 days, unless consent has been provided. Robust enforcement action will be taken against firms who are ignoring this policy.
People are able to report cold calls or texts – whether that be a recorded automated message, or from a real person – to the ICO. The organisation will then use the information provided, to help investigate and take action against those responsible.
Updates from the FCA
The review of the motor finance sector – previously deferred from 30th September, to the end of this year – has still not been published, so keep an eye out for this appearing.
Looking ahead to 2019, the FCA will be introducing a mandatory requirement in February for a cooling off period when purchasing extended warranties. Firms must not conclude the sale of this particular product until at least two days have passed since the required information was provided – this only applies to rent-to-own agreements.
The Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) has been extended from the banking sector, to all dual regulated insurance and reinsurance firms. This is a key step to improve sector culture and governance, which will ensure all staff understand who has ultimate and overall responsibility.
We’re looking forward to seeing what is on the horizon for compliance in 2019, and as always we will keep you up-to-date on all industry hot topics!