Consumer finance

Status / emerging findings

• All four consumer advocacy witnesses (Fairer Finance, Which?, Money Advice Scotland, Citizens Advice) unanimously rejected the Financial Services and Markets Bill as anti-consumer, with one calling it 'probably the most anti-consumer change' in nine years.
• Proposed Financial Ombudsman Service reforms—removing the 'fair and reasonable' test and introducing a 10-year time bar—viewed as substantially weakening consumer protections and shifting power away from complainants.
• Treasury accused of failing to meaningfully engage with consumer groups on FOS reforms despite formal consultations; three of four witnesses stated engagement was non-existent or ignored.
• ISA allowance cut to £12,000 flagged as introducing unnecessary complexity and reducing consumer savings incentives, though evidence summary cuts off.

Why it matters

These changes directly affect millions of UK savers' ability to protect savings from tax and access fair complaint mechanisms if financial services fail them—fundamental consumer safeguards under scrutiny.

Tone arc

Adversarial from the outset. Witnesses entered with prepared criticism and the committee appears to have pursued a line of questioning that positioned Treasury proposals as fundamentally misaligned with consumer protection.

Key witnesses

James Daley (Fairer Finance), Rocio Concha (Which?), Anne Pardoe (Money Advice Scotland), Janine Rennie (Citizens Advice)