PS19/9: Applying the Senior Managers and Certification Regime to Claims Management Companies

This Policy Statement outlines how we will apply our Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) to claims management companies (CMCs) and their staff. The regime aims to strengthen individual accountability in the firms we regulate and raise standards of professionalism, conduct and governance.

Read PS19/9 (PDF)[1]

On 1 April 2019, we will become the regulator of CMCs established in, or serving customers in, England, Wales and Scotland.

We had more than 20 responses to the consultation on our proposed rules. The majority of responses supported our proposals with respondents recognising the need to strengthen the regulation of the industry.

The SM&CR seeks to:

encourage staff to take personal responsibility for their actions
improve accountability at all levels of companies
improve the focus in CMCs on delivering customer outcomes

Who this applies to

These rules will be of interest to all existing CMCs intending to continue trading from 1 April 2019 onwards, and to all businesses considering establishing CMCs in the future. This includes:

CMCs established or serving customers in, or constituted under the laws of England and Wales or Scotland, including those who deal with Section 75 claims under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA)
trade bodies representing CMCs

What you need to do

The new regime will start to apply to firms from 9 December 2019, so CMCs should start preparing for the change now.

The first step is to read and understand the policy statement[1] and what it means for you, your business and your staff. The SM&CR will apply to almost all staff working for claims management companies.

More information

Please refer to our guidance and information for firms about the SM&CR regime[2].

There is information about our regulation of the sector on our dedicated page for CMCs[3].

Firms can also sign up to receive email alerts[4].

First published: 20/09/2018 Last updated: 29/03/2019