The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published PS25/19: Improving the Complaints Reporting process following Consultation Paper CP25/13 issued in May 2025. This Policy Statement finalises updates to the rules and guidance governing how authorised firms must report complaints data.
The overarching aim is to enhance the usefulness of complaints reporting by improving data quality, consistency and granularity, while reducing unnecessary burden on firms. These changes support the FCA’s wider regulatory agenda, including its commitment to consumer protection and the principles enshrined in the Consumer Duty.
Who is Affected?
PS25/19 applies to all FCA-authorised firms subject to the complaints handling rules in DISP (Dispute Resolution: Complaints), including:
- Banks
- Insurers
- Investment firms
- Lenders and intermediaries
- Payment services and e-money institutions
- Claims management companies
- Funeral plan providers
- Other regulated firms
Key Changes to Complaints Reporting
- Consolidated Complaints Return: Five existing separate returns will be replaced by a single, unified reporting return. This replaces returns under DISP 1 Annex 1, consumer credit, funeral plans, payment services / e-money and claims-management companies.
- Permission-based Reporting: Firms only need to complete the parts of the return relevant to the regulated activities they carry out. This simplifies reporting and avoids irrelevant sections.
- Simplified ‘Nil Return’ Option: Firms with no complaints to report can submit a simplified “nil return” at the outset, reducing administrative workload.
- Removal of Group-level Reporting: Firms must report complaints data at the individual legal entity level rather than at group level, enhancing transparency and accountability.
- Updated Complaints Taxonomy: Complaint categories have been modernised to reflect current products and services, reducing reliance on generic categories such as “Other”.
- Vulnerability Data Capture: Firms must now indicate if a complaint involves a customer in vulnerable circumstances, or if the complaint was caused by the firm’s failure to identify or respond appropriately to customer vulnerabilities.
- Fixed Reporting Periods: All firms will report complaints data on a fixed six-monthly, calendar-year basis (rather than aligning to their individual accounting reference dates). This standardises reporting across the industry.
- Improved FCA Guidance: The FCA will supply clearer definitions, updated guidance and design a user-friendly return to help firms comply consistently.
- Public Disclosure for Larger Firms: Firms reporting 500 or more complaints may have their data published individually, furthering public transparency.
Implementation Timeline for Firms
Firms will have a 12-month implementation window from publication to update their systems and processes, with the first consolidated complaints return running from 1 January to 30 June 2027 and due by 1 July 2027. Preparation should begin immediately, involving a review of regulatory permissions, complaints-handling frameworks, data-capture mechanisms, categorisation procedures and governance structures to ensure alignment with the new taxonomy and reporting standards.
The FCA intends to support the transition through further guidance, user testing, and communications, helping firms achieve compliance efficiently and consistently. For many firms, the new regime will streamline reporting by replacing multiple returns with a single consolidated submission, reducing duplication and administrative burden.
While the new return simplifies and consolidates reporting, firms will be expected to submit granular, accurate complaints data by legal entity, product type and vulnerability status. Enhanced internal policies, staff training and record-keeping will be essential for compliance, particularly for high-volume firms subject to public disclosure.
How Complyport Can Help?
The reforms under PS25/19 are not merely a technical update, they require a holistic review and operational readiness exercise across your organisation. Complyport is here to ensure your transition to the new framework is controlled, timely, and defensible.
We support firms by:
- Regulatory Gap Assessment: We assess your current complaints reporting framework, identifying gaps against PS25/19 requirements, including data capture fields, vulnerability tagging, taxonomy alignment, reporting structure, legal-entity separation and audit-trail robustness.
- Training and Advisory Support: We deliver targeted training for Compliance, Complaints and Senior Management teams, ensuring staff understand not only what has changed, but how to apply it operationally. This includes vulnerability identification, taxonomy use, reporting breakdowns and evidential expectations.
- Governance, Policies and Documentation: We review and update complaints policies, governance oversight structures, internal controls and record-keeping obligations. Our approach ensures your complaints environment is repeatable, defensible and easy to supervise internally or externally.
- Ongoing Monitoring and Support: To embed best practice beyond go-live, Complyport provides ongoing monitoring frameworks, periodic reviews and continuous oversight to ensure lasting compliance and sustained reporting quality. This reduces the risk of future FCA challenge and strengthens governance resilience.
Contact Us
To understand how these changes may impact your business, or to discuss how Complyport can streamline your compliance with the new Companies House requirements, get in touch to arrange a meeting with one of our Subject Matter Experts.
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