FOS warns firms to ditch 'rigid' rules when dealing with vulnerable clients

Carmen Reichman
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The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has warned it will demand compensation awards from businesses for non-financial errors if they are deemed to have failed vulnerable clients by "rigidly applying rules".

The FOS will look at how firms have responded to their clients' personal needs when handling complaints and will take into consideration the "non-financial impact of a business' error" when awarding compensation, it said in a newsletter out on 18 August. Complaints are often made worse by firms rigidly applying their rules when dealing with vulnerable clients instead of responding to their personal circumstances, the FOS said. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has also come across problems in the way firms deal with clients in difficult circumstances. Its main gripe, it said in...

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