The Financial Conduct Authority has said consumer protection is its top regulatory priority in a post-Covid world.

Other areas of focus include setting higher professional standards and promoting competition.

FCA director of insurance and conduct specialists Matt Brevis said today (21 April) that the regulator is focused on these key areas.

It wants to ensure that consumers are at the centre of firms’ businesses and are treated fairly by the firms they interact with.

Brevis was speaking at an online conference hosted by the Westminster Business Forum.

The conference is about the next steps for UK insurance regulation and Brevis’s presentation covered firms serving vulnerable consumers, and the FCA’s forthcoming Consumer Duty.

Brevis said the pandemic has had a significant impact on consumers, businesses, and their products.

“We have seen products that made sense before Covid and may not make as much sense today. What consumers need and what they want, and probably most importantly, what they are able to afford, may be different.”

He said Covid has now been excluded from many insurance products such as travel insurance and life insurance.

Brevis stressed the importance of product value and the work the regulator is doing to ensure that customers’ expectations are met.

“This has been a priority for us for some time. It has been enhanced by the pandemic given the vulnerabilities faced by millions of consumers across the country.

“Consumers should be able to expect value from the financial services products that they buy. They should expect that if they buy insurance products for a specific need is there for them.

“Insurers are making it clear to customers what they are buying, what is covered and what isn’t. And that is a key component of value.”

As the country grapples with a cost-of-living crisis, economic uncertainties and a war in Europe, Brevis said consumers are being forced to make difficult decisions about where they spend money.

“For many cost is a central component and perhaps the only component when they are assessing value. And that’s especially true now with financial pressures on households. It is essential for firms to give clarity to consumers as to what they are getting for their money.

“One of the things we have been focusing on with firms is when customers face difficulties they are dealt with appropriately. We have guidance and expectations as to how customers are treated. In terms of value this is an issue that’s being going on for some time.

“The insurance Distribution Directive that was introduced in 2019, we did a review of how it was being implemented and again reviewed it during the pandemic to ensure that consumers where getting value for the products that they were purchasing.

“We have published a number of reports in the last couple of years around this and it’s an area that we will continue to focus on over the coming years.

“In many areas we found that firms have made significant progress in explaining value to their customers. It’s an area we still think there’s progress still need to be made to meet the needs of consumers.”

On the Consumer Duty, Brevis said it will help firms “thrive, innovate and find new ways to improve the experience of customers.”

The FCA will publish the Consumer Duty policy statement and final rules by 31 July 2022, with firms having until April 2023 to implement the new duty.

It will require every firm to consider the impact of their products and services on consumers.