This information sheet outlines the FMA's recommendations for financial service providers around making sure customers are treated fairly when things go wrong.
Our research Why don't consumers complain ? shows that many consumers are not confident about what steps they should take if they believe they have been treated unfairly by a financial service provider.
Financial service providers should ensure that:
- Consumers know how to complain
- Consumers can complain through multiple channels
- Staff know what is considered a complaint
- They are fair and transparent
- They are proactive identifying potential issues
- They learn from complaints
Download Complaints: Ensuring consumers are treated fairly [PDF 272KB]
Overview
A cross-sector priority for the Financial Markets Authority - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko (FMA) is ensuring consumers know how to make a complaint about their financial service provider and are treated fairly when things go wrong.
Our research 1 shows that many consumers are not confident about what steps they should take if they believe they have been treated unfairly by a provider.
We want to see increased consumer awareness of complaints processes and confidence in what actions to take, and providers having effective complaints processes in place. These objectives support some of our key outcomes 2 , including that we have well-informed investors and consumers, there are fair services, and consumers receive quality ongoing service.
These outcomes align with our main statutory objective of promoting and facilitating the development of fair, efficient and transparent financial markets. When consumers know how to complain, they can protect their own interests and help to drive improvements in the provision of financial services by offering important insights into what is and isn't working well.
This information sheet does not create new legal obligations or replace existing obligations 3 . Instead, the information sheet has been developed to help providers improve outcomes for consumers. It provides information about managing complaints, including elements of good practice for building consumer awareness and using insights from complaints to improve processes and consumer outcomes. It also details what we may look for when we are supervising providers.
The examples in this information sheet are not exhaustive and are illustrative in nature. We believe that all providers can learn from these good practice examples.
