It follows a super complaint made by Citizens Advice that loyal customers are being penalised
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has set up a loyalty penalty working group (LPWG).
It will explore how the recommendations the CMA made in response to the Citizen’s Advice super-complaint are being implemented.
It follows the CMA investigating concerns that longstanding customers who stay with their provider end up paying significantly more than newer ones.
This was found to be the case across five markets – home insurance, mobile, broadband, cash savings and mortgages.
Oversee
An update published yesterday on the CMA’s website, said: “Following the publication of the CMA’s response to the loyalty penalty super-complaint, the CMA has set up a working group to oversee the implementation of recommendations made by the CMA.”
From June 2019, it will be decided whether further meetings are necessary.
The CMA said an update will be published in summer 2019.
The LPWG will be chaired and led by the CMA, meeting every 4-6 weeks until June 2019 at a minimum.
Its members include representatives from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Ofcom, Ofgem, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), HM Treasury (HMT) and the UK Regulators Network (UKRN).
Super-complaint
In September last year, Citizens Advice called on the CMA to tackle the loyalty penalty in essential markets to put a stop to unfair pricing by submitting a super-complaint.
It gave the following reasons for the CMA to investigate this– customers do not realise they are being penalised for loyalty, vulnerable customers are “disproportionately stung” and the loyalty penalty is widespread.
A poll published in the super-complaint said that 47% of consumers in the home insurance market were paying loyalty penalty.
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