FCA displeased at funeral provider Complaints Commissioner criticism

The FCA does not agree with the findings of the Complaints Commissioner that it did not identify significant risks in relation to Safe Hands funeral plan provider. The FCA did not acquire legislative powers to regulate funeral plan providers until July 2022. It had received one anonymous report that Safe Hands may have been carrying on regulated activity without authorisation, and logged this to consider when it was able to start assessing applications in advance of getting its powers. Safe Hands applied for authorisation in September 2021, the FCA said it was unlikely to meet the requirements to be authorised and the firm had stopped trading in February 2022, before the FCA took on regulation of the sector.

The FCA said it cannot take responsibility for harm caused by firms before it is responsible for regulating them – it says it is receiving reports of consumer harm in the BNPL sector. It has taken action where it can, but it needs to prioritise its resources.