The Tax Incentivised Savings Association has established a Consumer Protection Policy Council.
Operating alongside Tisa’s other policy councils, the forum will focus on protection issues and collaborate with industry trade bodies and consumer groups.
Chairing the council will be Johnny Timpson, financial protection technical and industry affairs manager at Scottish Widows Protect, with Sara McLeish, director of EMEIA financial services at EY, as deputy chair.
David Dalton-Brown, director general at Tisa, said: “It became evident as we prepared our response to the Financial Advice Market Review that our members wanted us to provide this focus for consumer protection.
“Consumer protection, however described, is part of a package of inter-related solutions to help people cope with life’s mishaps such as illness, death, unemployment and other circumstances that impact on their welfare and financial well-being.
“This is an important issue in itself. It’s also a key aspect of our developing policy proposals on guidance and encouraging people to develop a lifetime financial plan as we follow up on our FAMR submission.”
It is also a key aspect of our developing policy proposals on guidance and encouraging people to develop a lifetime financial plan as we follow up on our FAMR submission.Mr Timpson said a number of trade bodies, along with the Money Advice Service, are already working on initiatives to better educate consumers about the benefits of improved financial resilience and appropriate protection solutions, citing Seven Families initiative as a great example of collaborative working around a shared objective.
He said: “Our remit is to support and build on this by developing thought leadership on innovative ways of making consumer protection more appealing and relevant to people both at home and in the workplace.
“We will be working closely with Tisa’s Technology Innovation Policy Council as digital solutions become increasingly important to future distribution and consumer interaction.”
Adviser View
Richard Ross, director at Chadwicks, called the forum an excellent idea.
He said: “It’s timing is perfect in the wake of the Budget where we’ve seen further assaults on our welfare state, albeit they may yet be reversed.
“The steady shift of responsibility for those who suffer mishap from the state to the individual means protection has never been more important.”
