2018-05-16

Added · Updated

FG18/7: Final guidance on fairness of variation terms in financial services consumer contracts

The FCA issued final guidance outlining factors financial services firms must consider under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 when drafting and reviewing variation terms in consumer contracts. The guidance specifies non-exhaustive areas for consideration, including the validity of reasons for using variation terms, the transparency of those terms, provisions for notice, and the freedom to exit the contract if a consumer does not wish to accept the variation. This document applies to financial services firms, trade associations, consumers, and consumer representatives.

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This final guidance outlines factors financial services firms should consider under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 when drafting and reviewing variation terms in their consumer contracts.

Show FG18/7 (PDF)

Show FG18/7: Summary of feedback (PDF)

We consulted on this guidance in GC18/2 (PDF) and have made some revisions to it in the light of the feedback we received.

This guidance outlines a number of non-exhaustive areas the FCA believes firms should have regard to when drafting and reviewing variation terms. These include and are not limited to the following:

The validity of the reason(s) for using the variation term.

The transparency of the variation term.

Provision for notice in the variation term.

Provision for the freedom to exit the contract should a consumer not wish to accept the variation.

Who this applies to

This guidance will be of interest to financial services firms, trade associations, consumers, and consumer representatives.

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