WHAT IS THE CONSUMER DUTY

The Consumer Duty has been brought in by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to specifically monitor the behaviour of Claims Management Companies (“CMCs”) and to ensure that they behave and follow the rules and regulations imposed by the FCA.

In this implementation plan we propose to show how Hydrogard Legal Services use the Consumer Duty to the benefit and protection of the Consumer and our business.

How are we implementing this into Hydrogard Legal Services?

To this end we are completely aligned with the FCA’s vision, which is for CMCs to be trusted providers of high-quality, good-value services that help people pursue legitimate claims for redress and benefit the public interest.

Hydrogard Legal Services are very successful in helping consumers who have been mis-sold or had products, goods and services misrepresented to them in their own homes. You may or may not be aware that we have helped a lot of consumers fight “Rogue Traders” such as rogue builders, electricians, plumbers etcetera and in the past we have made successful claims against Anglian Windows, Zenith Staybrite, Clearwin T/as Zenith Home Improvements, Safe Style Windows, Wren Kitchens, Bathstore and most recently we have been successful in getting refunds for Consumers who have been scammed by the Spray Foam industry.

As you know the spray foam industry is Unregulated and has a number of scammers, rogue traders and serious fraudsters who will stop at nothing to sell their product into the homes of unsuspecting consumers. We have to point out that there are a number of bona-fide organisations working within this industry who try to provide a good service to the Consumer. 

Generally these consumers, like most of the other consumers we have helped are pensioners and the scammers and rogue traders cause a lot of damage to the consumer, not just physically by installing a product in to their homes, but by making their property valueless and in some cases damaging their mental health by causing undue stress.

We know from experience that the issue our customers suffer with is trust, because once they have been scammed, conned, mis-sold or misrepresented with any product they are instantly very cautious of everyone else, which is understandable. 

Some of the latest issues with spray foam products are that once installed in the loft space, the spray foam has the capability of rendering those homes as unmortgagable and also where needed stops the homeowner from getting equity release funding.

As part of our Consumer Duty and in order to give the Consumer the most up to date information, we must make sure we provide the correct information at all times to them. In this regard we must emphasise the following points so as to provide the best Consumer Service we can.

While we already do all of the following, we must ensure that we deliver on the New Consumer Duty Rules, but as a minimum standard we need to do the following:

1. We tell all Consumers that the service we provide is that of a Claims Management Service and to this end we are regulated by the FCA as a Claims Management Company.

2. We advise all Consumers that we are NOT solicitor’s or Lawyers and ensure they understand this point.

3. We advise all Consumers that we work on a No Win No Fee basis, we provide a copy of our contract in advance to all potential customers including the Terms and Conditions

4. We make all Consumers aware of the Charges and Fees that we work to, which are only paid upon success, the Customer will receive the refund paid directly to them, Hydrogard Legal Services DO NOT HANDLE CUSTOMERS MONEY EVER. 

Our Fees are capped by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and a list of charges can be found on our website. 

CONSUMER DUTY & THE THREE CROSS CUTTING RULES:

The Consumer Duty sets out three cross-cutting rules that determine how we should act when trying to achieve good outcomes for our Customers and these are: 

1. Act in good faith toward retail customers 

2. Avoid foreseeable harm to retail customers 

3. Enable and support retail customers to pursue their financial objectives.

In order to act in good faith towards retail customers we must make sure we always follow our Company beliefs and principles. We treat our customers in the same way we would like to be treated, that is to be fair, to be honest and to provide our customers with all of the facts so that they may make a balanced and informed decision before engaging the services of Hydrogard Legal Services. Including understanding what costs or fees may be incurred by using Hydrogard Legal Services.

Our fees are: a maximum of 30% including vat for any successful refund or finance saving made up to the value of £24,999 with a maximum invoice value of £5,000.00.

In order to avoid foreseeable harm to retail customers we always ask for a date of birth, this determines what is said to customers, i.e. Would they like a family member, a friend or neighbour to be with them when we discuss their potential claim. 

We want the Consumer to be confident that we will always look out for their best interests, including answering all of their questions, identifying any possible areas that could cause harm such as cost and affordability, vulnerability whether by age or by illness and to ensure that they understand their cancellation rights before they contract any work with us and they understand that under NO CIRCUMSTANCE will we start any work within the 14 day Consumer Cancellation Period and finally to ensure they are fully aware of the service we are going to provide to them.

In order for us to be able to enable and support retail customers to pursue their financial objectives we need to understand why they are engaging with us. Once we understand their reasons for using our services we will ensure that the customers’ expectations are understood, are met and delivered. 

The customer will understand fully the process of our claims management service, including the no win no fee service and what is expected from the customer and the Company including timescales and possible outcomes. 

The customer also needs to understand that if we are not successful in getting them a refund or a finance saving then they do not pay for any of our services.

CONSUMER DUTY & THE FOUR OUTCOMES:

The Consumer Duty outcomes set out requirements that we as a business must meet when providing our services to our client’s / customers. They cover four distinct aspects of the relationship between us as a business and our client’s / customers and determine how we should act when trying to achieve good outcomes for our Customers and these are: 

1. Products and Services

2. Price and Value

3. Consumer Understanding

4. Consumer Support

With regard to Products and Services, this outcome requires us to understand if our products and services are suitable for our clients in the long term. This means we need to understand their needs, and that any advice and service we provide to them continues to support the ongoing needs of the client’s and remains the best advice for them.

The Price and Value of the service we provide is governed by the FCA Fee Cap that is discussed above. 

This outcome requires us to understand if the price our clients pay for a product that we have recommended is reasonable when compared to the benefits they'll get from that product. This also applies to the cost of any advice we give them.

This outcome aims to reduce the potential for our clients to be met with hidden, unreasonable, or miscommunicated costs throughout the lifespan of any products recommended or services provided. 

This means paying close attention to the lifecycle of our products, i.e. No Win No Fee service, and regularly assessing whether it’s still offering clients fair value, based on their circumstances and needs.

The Consumer Understanding outcome expects that clients get the information they need at the right time, and in a way they can understand. 

In this regard we communicate with all of our clients in a clear, transparent and accessible way when discussing products or services. 

Our Contract is in plain simple English with no legal jargon and the Customers Cancellation rights are detailed and easy to understand.

We also make clear any benefits, risks or costs involved with our No Win No Fee service, so that our clients can make informed decisions based on their personal circumstances and needs. 

With regard to Consumer Support, here at Hydrogard Legal Services we go above and beyond anything else that any other organisation offers here in the UK and are proud of this fact. 

We ensure that our customers get the right level of support when and where they need it, including vulnerable customers and with regards to the No Win No Fee service that we offer and with regard to on-going protection and their finances we provide the customers with one of the books we have written “BEWARE OF SCAMMERS – CONSUMER PROTECTION HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF” and we advise all complainants to register their complaint with Trading Standards.  

To meet the outcome, we provide our customers with a consistent and high level of support, whether we have a claims assessor visit them in their homes to read through the paperwork and check they have all of the correct paperwork or whether this information is provided over the telephone (all of our calls are recorded as per our FCA regulation requirements) through to making the information easy to find via our website https://www.hydorgardlegalservices.co.ukthis gives simple access to all pages and everything is listed in detail so they have the answers at the touch of a button. 

 To ensure we continue with the great work that we do we would like to share our goal, our vision and our aims, which are: 

1. Protect the customer at all times 

2. Make sure we are polite and courteous both on the telephone, by email or in face to   

     face meetings.

3. Make sure we provide the correct information at all times. 

4. Understand that some consumers who we speak to may be frail, vulnerable and even 

     distressed by the situation they now find themselves in.

As a last point I would just to say thank you to all of our customers for your continued support and trust.

Chris Brown
CEO
Hydrogard Legal Services