The FSA was designated as a 'qualifying body' under the Regulations on 1 May 2001. From then we became responsible for enforcing the Regulations in most of the financial services sector (including most mortgages and general insurance before full FSMA regulation of these sectors in 2004 and 2005 respectively).

Before the FSA became a 'qualifying body' the Regulations still applied to financial services contracts. However, they were enforced by the Office of Fair Trading which still has the responsibility for consumer credit and unregulated mortgages as well as non financial services business.

As a 'qualifying body' we coordinate our work with the Office of Fair Trading and other 'qualifying bodies' such as local Trading Standards Offices.

Guidance

We set out our guidance on our use of the Regulations in UNFCOG.

The Regulations form an important part of our developing approach to implementing Treating Customer Fairly under Principle 6 in the FSA Handbook.

Statement of good practice

In May 2005 we published our Statement of Good Practice to give firms a fuller picture of our views on fairness in contracts and as an aid for firms to comply with the Regulations.

 

More information on unfair contract terms