Following reviews of the banking and insurance sectors, which raised concerns about how the industry deals with vulnerable clients, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is launching a review to look at how investment firms are treating clients who are coping with a death in the family.
That review, which will include firms that provide advice, manage, or administer investments, will examine the experience of investors from the time that their firm is told about a bereavement, through to settlement or transfer of investments.
“It will assess how firms communicate, how they support vulnerable customers, their service standards, and how fees are handled on bereaved accounts,” the regulator said.
The examination of investment firms follows previous research, which found that less than half (47%) of bereaved customers reported receiving the needed support from financial firms.
“When someone loses a loved one, the last thing they need is confusing letters, delays and poor service from their financial provider,” said Kate Tuckley, head of department, consumer investments at the FCA, in a release.
“We want firms to design bereavement processes with people, not paperwork, at their centre. These processes are a real test of a firm’s culture and key to consumer trust,” she added.
The FCA said it’ll publish a report detailing its findings and highlighting good practices later this year.