FSCS has published its plan and budget for 2017/18. FSCS estimates that firms are likely to have to pay a total levy bill of £378 million to cover its costs. Points of interest include that FSCS:
- intends to raise supplementary levies relating to general insurance provision (£63 million), life and pensions intermediation (£36 million) and home finance intermediation (£15 million);
- will make a £50 million refund to the investment intermediation sector;
- has received significant numbers of claims against independent financial advisers relating to advice given to transfer funds from existing pension schemes to SIPPs; and
- may trigger a levy on the retail pool later in 2017/18 relating to these claims when it has a better understanding of the likely full-year compensation costs.
The plan also contains a summary of the progress made by the FSCS in taking forward its five year strategy. FSCS priorities for next year are continuing to improve customer service and achieving value for money, with the aim of receiving the vast majority of claims applications online by March 2019. FSCS will confirm the final levies for each of the funding classes in April 2017.