Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
The Financial Conduct Authority regulates how insurers, brokers and lenders treat you. Its rules shape every policy you buy and every claim you make.
What the FCA is and its statutory role
The FCA is the UK’s conduct regulator for financial services. Parliament created it under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and the firms it regulates pay for it through a levy.
The Prudential Regulation Authority sets the capital and solvency standards that keep insurers stable. The FCA sets the conduct rules that govern how firms behave with customers. The two bodies sit within the Bank of England group.
The FCA has three operational objectives: protect consumers, protect the integrity of the market, and promote competition. For insurance, that means fair pricing, clear product information and honest claims handling.
The FCA does not sell insurance, handle claims or pay compensation. It writes the rules and holds firms to account when they fall short.
How the FCA affects your insurance
For you as a customer, the FCA’s rules reach almost every part of your insurance journey. Premium finance, policy wording, renewals and complaints all sit inside its remit.
The FCA’s pricing remedy ended the loyalty penalty on home and motor renewals. Insurers must now offer existing customers a price no higher than a new customer would pay for the same cover. The Consumer Duty requires firms to deliver fair value and good outcomes, not just compliant paperwork.
If your insurer treats you unfairly, the FCA gives you a route to challenge that through the Financial Ombudsman Service.
For insurers, brokers and MGAs, the FCA sets the licensing regime, product governance and reporting obligations. Product oversight and governance rules require firms to review products across their life and withdraw those that fail customers.
The FCA runs multi-firm reviews, consultation papers and thematic work that reset how the market operates. Firms must track these and evidence how they respond.
Key recent FCA interventions
The FCA has been active across UK general insurance in 2026. Its 2026/27 business plan names motor premium finance, product oversight and vulnerable customers as priorities.
The FCA’s consultation CP26/22 proposes simplifying insurance contracts so customers can understand what they buy. Its multi-firm review into financial-crime controls tests how insurers stop money laundering. The final report on motor premium finance (MS24/2) found monthly APRs falling by 4.1 points and around £157m a year saved for borrowers, while warning that fair-value concerns remain. The FCA has also prioritised claims efficiency, reflected in first-quarter motor claims data.
These interventions build on the pricing remedy and the Consumer Duty. Our explainers on the FCA and PRA and Consumer Duty set out the underlying rules.
How to engage with the FCA
You cannot contact the FCA about your own policy complaint. It does not resolve individual disputes. Complain to your insurer first, then take the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you remain unhappy. Motor insurance complaints rose in the first quarter of 2026, the latest FOS data shows.
The FCA publishes consultations, speeches and data that shape future rules. You can respond to open consultations and read its decisions. Trade bodies and consumer groups also feed into its work, and you can add your voice through them.
Sources
FCA 2026/27 business plan. FCA CP26/22: A more upfront approach to insurance contract simplification (consultation). FCA MS24/2: Motor premium finance final report, 3 February 2026. Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. FCA Handbook: Insurance: Conduct of Business sourcebook (ICOBS) and Product Governance rules. Consumer Duty (PRIN 2A).