The Consumer Council welcomes this opportunity to contribute to Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) Committee’s policy proposal on the ‘Breathing space’ consultation. The Consumer Council believes it is well placed to respond to this review from the perspective of the Northern Ireland consumer. Our outreach and empowerment work, complaint resolution and research gives us first-hand knowledge of the needs of consumers in Northern Ireland and the key issues affecting them.
The Consumer Council welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) consultation on Intergenerational Differences. We recognise that the FCA’s consultation centres on evolution of the way people build and use wealth and how these changes have an impact on consumers’ financial needs. However, The Consumer Council believes that consideration also needs to be given to the key differences that Northern Ireland consumers face in relation to financial services, as outlined below, which will have particular relevance to consumers’ ability to build and use wealth across generations.
