Claims Management Companies (CMCs) are still producing “misleading, unclear and unfair advertising”, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said.
The regulator also accused some CMC’s of using FCA authorisation to “legitimise” unregulated services and warned them to stop using their Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation to lend credibility to their activities.
The Regulator has further urged such firms to be clear with consumers about which of their products and services are regulated and which are not. The FCA said: “CMCs should pay particular attention to how clear they have made it to consumers that the service they are agreeing to use is not regulated.
The FCA regulates six areas of CMC activity: financial services and products, personal injury, housing disrepair, specified benefit, criminal injury, and employment.
Promotions such as “No Win No Fee” should be very clearly explained and not simply used as a marketing tactic to “capture” clients who might otherwise have used the services of a Regulated firm of Solicitors.
Unregulated firms have sprung up in recent years offering consumers assistance in such areas as foreign property debt solutions and miss sold foreign mortgage products.
The FCA said: “CMCs should pay particular attention to how clear they have made it to consumers that the service they are agreeing to use is not regulated”.
When instructing a Firm to assist you with any legal matter, particularly foreign legal issues, it is important to employ the services of an experienced and regulated firm of Solicitors to provide a layer of comfort and regulatory redress.