Consumer Duty examples added to CONC 2.2.2 guidance

The Financial Conduct Authority has added guidance to CONC 2.2.2 listing examples of behaviour by a firm, or on its behalf, that is likely to contravene Principle 6 and the Consumer Duty, in an entry dated 26/06/2026¹. CONC 2.2 sits within the credit-related regulated activities section of the FCA Handbook¹.

The examples cover four areas: targeting customers with regulated credit agreements that are unsuitable for them by reason of indebtedness, poor credit history, age, health, disability or any other reason; subjecting customers to high-pressure selling, aggressive or oppressive behaviour or unfair coercion; not allowing customers who are unable to make payments a reasonable time and opportunity to meet repayments; and taking steps to repossess a customer's home other than as a last resort¹.

The same section sets out separate rules on misleading names, in force since 01/04/2014, under which a firm must not carry on a credit-related regulated activity under a name likely to mislead customers about its status or the nature of its business¹. Guidance lists matters a name may mislead on, including the firm's identity, its commercial or profit-seeking status, its role and relationships with other persons, the extent of its authority, any implication that it is a public body or connected to a charity, government or the courts, the nature and cost of its products, and the scale and geographical scope of its business¹. Firms operating under a variety of trading names should take particular care that customers are not misled about the firm's identity or the nature or scale of its business¹.

CONC 2.2 also contains rules on optional additional products, in force since 01/04/2016, requiring that a customer actively elected to obtain a specific product before becoming bound to pay a charge for it, and prohibiting firms from inviting or inducing a customer to obtain such a product where the firm knows or has reasonable cause to suspect the rules will be contravened¹. An omission by a customer is not an active election, and the guidance gives the example of failing to change a pre-ticked box on a website¹. A borrower-lender agreement enabling a borrower to overdraw on a current account is not an optional additional product¹.

The FCA's separate arrears, default and recovery chapter, CONC 7, already requires firms not to take steps to repossess a customer's home, goods or vehicles other than as a last resort, having explored all other possible options². It also requires firms to treat customers in or approaching arrears or in default with forbearance and due consideration, and not to operate a policy of refusing to negotiate with a customer developing a repayment plan². CONC 7.3.2 carries a date of 26/06/2026².

Why it matters for households

The guidance does not create new rules; it sets out the FCA's view of what breaches existing ones, which is what firms and their agents are measured against. For households in arrears, the listed examples cover the point at which a lender moves towards possession, and the treatment of customers who cannot pay. CONC 7 states that a firm must not commence or continue repossession action where a forbearance arrangement is in place for as long as the customer is meeting its terms, and must not threaten court action, including a charging order or, in Scotland, an inhibition or an order for sale, to pressurise a customer into paying more than they can reasonably afford². A reasonable period for a customer developing a repayment plan should generally be thirty days where there is evidence of genuine intention, with consideration of a further thirty days where there is reasonable evidence of progress².

The optional additional product rules affect charges added alongside credit, such as insurance sold with a loan. Where a customer did not actively elect the product, the charge should not have been imposed¹. The misleading names rules apply to how a firm presents itself, including where it trades under several names¹.

The Consumer Duty sets the standard firms must meet for retail customers; the Consumer Duty guide explains its scope, and further regulatory material sits in the regulation-policy hub and the consumer-protection hub.

What happens next

CONC 2.2.2 is dated 26/06/2026¹. CONC 2.2.5, on the effect of other rules and legislation, carries a date of 31/07/2026¹. CONC 7.1.4 and CONC 7.6.2C are dated 15/07/2026². No further steps have been reported.