The FSA is an independently operating non government organization which has been awarded statutory powers by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA, 2000). Set up by the government, FSA keeps a close watch on financial services and endeavors to protect the borrower's rights. The FSA does so by providing factual and impartial information about the various financial products and services on offer to ensure that the deal is better understood by you so you know that you're making an informed financial choice.
What Does The FSA Do? The FSMA has given the FSA four statutory objectives which are:
o Market Confidence: The FSA must help maintain the confidence of the borrowers in the prevailing financial system.
o Public Awareness: It is the FSA's duty to promote public awareness and understanding of the financial system to ensure that borrowers don't get swindled by fraudulent lenders.
o Consumer Protection: It is the FSA's responsibility to secure the appropriate protection for consumers who have been cheated or those who have approached the FSA to seek protection against fraudulent lenders or agencies.
o Reduction of Financial Crime: The FSA, through it constant endeavors must try and reduce instances of financial crime.
FSA regulates most of the financial services in UK such as banks, financial advisors, mortgage remortgage brokers, stock brokers, insurance companies etc. This doesn't mean that FSA deals with loans, credit cards and insurance schemes directly. It simply regulates these services which are provided by various organizations.
How Do You Lodge A Complaint? There are times when you would have been dissatisfied with the services of your mortgage remortgage broker or even the financial agency you dealt with. In such circumstances FSA can serve you well and any firm regulated by the FSA will provide you free service to deal with all your doubts. They will assist you in putting forth your complaint to an independent complaints scheme or even take your case to court if necessary.
Follow this checklist and find out if you need to file a complaint:
o You've been charged excessively without your knowledge
o You were misled and given fraudulent information about a product
o The service didn't draw your attention towards some strict condition in the contract
o You were not given any notice about changes to the contract
o You have suffered a loss of money because of the agencies irresponsibility
If you answered YES to all the above questions, you need to complain as soon as possible! The FSA is here to restore your financial faith and make you believe that you have a helping hand to deal with your financial worries.