Financial Conduct Authority

From today, all prepaid funeral plans in the UK will be policed by the financial regulator – meaning you'll be protected if you buy a plan from an authorised firm and it later goes bust. But if you're one of an estimated 50,000 people with a plan from an unauthorised provider, your money may be at risk. Here's what you need to know.

The financial regulator has told lenders that they must ensure they are not overcharging customers and are treating them fairly as the cost of living crisis worsens. 

Victims of the London Capital & Finance (LCF) collapse could be in line for more compensation on the back of criticism from the complaints commissioner about the way the UK financial regulator treated customers of the now-defunct investment company.

A cap on the fees claims management companies charge customers has been introduced by the financial services regulator today, which it says will leave some people £1,000s better off.  

Shoppers using certain buy now, pay later (BNPL) services may be due refunds after wrongly being charged late payment fees. Providers Clearpay, Openpay and Laybuy have all agreed to repay borrowers following involvement from the financial regulator.

The financial watchdog has released a Christmas jingle as part of an anti-fraud campaign, launched today (9 December), to try and better inform and protect consumers from financial fraud related to taking out loans, which it says are particularly rife over the Christmas period. 

A sweeping regulatory overhaul has been proposed to stop banks and insurers mistreating consumers and to ensure, among a raft of other measures, that financial firms are not able to leave existing customers languishing on poor deals while new ones are offered the best rates.

The Financial Conduct Authority has revealed details on how it plans to regulate prepaid funeral sellers from next summer, with measures including a ban on cold calling, a set penalty-free cancellation period and providers requiring authorisation.

Members of the House of Lords have called on the Government to protect access to cash and to do more to prevent the poorest from being excluded from access to financial services. The call for action comes as part of a report published today by the cross-party House of Lords Liaison Committee.

Around 8,800 London Capital & Finance (LCF) investors are set to receive compensation under a new Government scheme, the Treasury has announced today. But investors will only get back 80% of their initial investment, capped at £68,000.