Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report by the Financial Conduct Authority entitled Financial Lives 2022 survey, published on 26 July 2023, if he will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the findings of that survey on the number of people who unsuccessfully attempted to contact their financial services providers in the last 12 months.

The Government wants to ensure that everyone can access useful support from their financial service providers and understands that for many customers, getting through to their provider is often the starting point for receiving help.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Financial Lives Survey provides a nationally representative view of UK adults’ financial behavior and experience of the UK financial services industry. While in the 12 months to May 2022, the Survey shows that 84% of those who used customer support services in the last 12 months agreed that it helped them achieve what they wanted to, in the same period, 14% of adults who held one or more financial products unsuccessfully attempted to contact one or more of their financial services providers.

Already, Ministers and officials regularly engage with the FCA on the key issues affecting customers, including access to support.

The Consumer Duty, introduced on 31 July this year, builds on the FCAs work to ensure that firms act to deliver good outcomes and seeks to set a higher and clearer standard of care that firms owe their customers. Under the duty, firms will have to provide helpful and responsive customer service and equip their customers to make good decisions through communications people can understand, provided at the right time. This means it should be as easy to complain about or switch and cancel products or services as it is to buy them.

To improve access to digital services, the government is continuing to invest in digital infrastructure as well as essential skills. For example, the Digital Entitlement allows for adults with no or low digital skills to study for a new Essential Digital Skills Qualification for free.