For years, many credit brokers treated FCA Principle 6 as the short version of customer fairness: pay due regard to customers' interests and treat them fairly. The Consumer Duty changed that framework for retail business. It introduced Principle 12, which requires a firm to act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers, supported by detailed cross-cutting rules and four outcome areas.

The important point is not that both principles now apply on top of each other. Under the FCA Handbook, Principles 6 and 7 do not apply to an activity to the extent that the Consumer Duty applies. A broker therefore needs to know which standard governs each part of its business, then build controls for that standard.

That sounds technical. In practice, it affects customer journeys, financial promotions, lender hand-offs, commission arrangements, support, complaints and the evidence senior management should expect to see.

Principle 6 and Principle 12 in plain English

Principle 6, called Customers' interests, requires a firm to pay due regard to the interests of its customers and treat them fairly.

Principle 12, the Consumer Duty, requires a firm to act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers. It is expanded by PRIN 2A through three cross-cutting obligations:

• act in good faith towards retail customers;
• avoid causing foreseeable harm to retail customers; and
• enable and support retail customers to pursue their financial objectives.

The Duty also contains four outcomes covering products and services, price and value, consumer understanding and consumer support.

Principle 6 remains important, but Principle 12 is not simply a rewording. The FCA describes the Duty as a higher and more exacting standard, with a stronger focus on the outcomes customers actually receive.

Does Principle 6 still apply?

Yes, but the answer depends on the activity and customer context.

The FCA's application rules in PRIN 3 say Principles 6 and 7 do not apply to a firm's activities to the extent that the Consumer Duty applies. Activities outside the Duty can still fall under Principles 6 and 7. The Handbook gives services to professional clients as an example.

For a credit broker, that means the compliance question is not, "Are we a Principle 6 firm or a Consumer Duty firm?" A single firm can conduct different activities for different customer groups, and the applicable standard can vary across that map.

Retail credit broking activity will commonly sit within the Duty where it falls within the relevant Handbook scope. Business-to-business work should not automatically be labelled outside the Duty merely because a customer operates a business. The legal form of the customer, the agreement, the activity and the applicable consumer-credit protections all matter.

Out-of-scope activity also needs careful analysis. The current PRIN 3 rules frame the boundary through retail market business, retail-customer involvement, the protections in the relevant conduct sourcebooks, territorial scope and, in a distribution chain, whether the firm determines or materially influences retail-customer outcomes. A business label or exemption should not be used as a shortcut; record the specific rule and facts supporting the conclusion.

What changed for credit brokers?

1. The standard became outcomes-focused

Principle 6 is expressed as a duty to treat customers fairly. The Consumer Duty asks what outcome the customer received and whether the firm acted to deliver a good one.

A disclosure can be technically present while the journey still produces confusion. A complaint can be answered on time while the underlying cause continues to harm customers. A lender panel can operate as designed while steering customers towards poor value. Under the Duty, completing the process is not the end of the analysis.

2. The relevant customer group became broader

Principle 12 can protect retail customers even where they are not a firm's direct client. That matters in a distribution chain involving lead generators, publishers, credit brokers, lenders, software providers and principal firms.

The extent of responsibility depends on what the firm determines or materially influences. A broker may not set the lender's underwriting policy, but it can still influence the promotion, the information collected, the lender panel, the explanation of its role and the customer hand-off.

3. Good faith, foreseeable harm and financial objectives became explicit

The three cross-cutting rules give firms a more practical test for decisions. A broker should ask whether a journey exploits customer misunderstanding, whether foreseeable harm has been designed out, and whether the customer is supported to make an informed financial decision.

This does not turn every broker into an adviser. The Handbook is clear that Principle 12 does not create a fiduciary relationship or require a firm to provide advice where it would not otherwise do so. It does require firms to be precise about the service they actually provide.

4. Four outcomes structure the work

The Duty translates the higher standard into four areas. For credit brokers, they can be tested through questions such as:

• Products and services: Is the broking service designed for an identified target market, and is the distribution approach consistent with it?
• Price and value: Do fees, commission and the benefits of the service support fair value, including where the broker influences the overall proposition?
• Consumer understanding: Can customers understand that the firm is a broker, not a lender, how the panel works, what data is shared and what may happen next?
• Consumer support: Can customers obtain help, correct errors, complain or disengage without unreasonable barriers?

5. Evidence must connect to action

The FCA's credit-broker implementation letter said firms need to define, monitor, evidence and stand behind the outcomes their customers experience. More recent FCA work on outcomes monitoring has reinforced the same point: data and reports matter when they help a firm identify harm, investigate causes and improve outcomes.

This is different from assuming an approved policy proves fair treatment. The evidence should show what happened in the journey and what the firm did when the result was not acceptable.

A practical scope map for a credit broker

The safest starting point is an activity map, not a slogan. List each material journey and record:

• the customer type and location;
• the regulated and ancillary activities involved;
• whether the activity falls within retail market business and relevant CONC protections;
• whether the firm communicates or approves a financial promotion likely to reach retail customers;
• which parts of the outcome the broker determines or materially influences;
• whether Principle 12 and PRIN 2A apply, or Principles 6 and 7 remain the relevant high-level standards; and
• the rules, guidance and evidence supporting that conclusion.

Review the map when the firm adds a lender, changes its target market, introduces an affiliate channel, launches a business-finance journey or alters who handles customer support.

Six controls that should look different under the Duty

1. Financial promotion approval

Do not stop at a line-by-line compliance review. Test whether the promotion and landing page create the right overall impression, whether the broker role is clear and whether the live journey matches the approved version.

2. Lead-source oversight

Segment complaints, consent concerns, customer confusion, rejection patterns and vulnerable-customer indicators by affiliate, publisher or introducer. A signed contract is not outcome monitoring.

3. Lender-panel governance

Record why lenders are on the panel, what customer groups they serve, what information the broker receives and how adverse trends are challenged. Responsibility should follow the parts of the journey each party controls or influences.

4. Customer-understanding testing

Test whether customers can explain the broker's role, the likely next step, the use of their data and any relevant fees or commission. Readability scores and disclosure placement are useful inputs, but they are not substitutes for understanding.

5. Complaints and root-cause analysis

Connect complaint themes to promotions, lead sources, products, lenders and journey stages. Record the corrective action and later test whether it worked.

6. Governance and monitoring

Give senior management evidence that distinguishes process completion from customer outcomes. Useful reporting explains what the data means, where harm may exist, which groups receive different outcomes and what decision followed.

Three mistakes to avoid

• Applying both standards without deciding scope. This can obscure which detailed PRIN 2A obligations apply and produce generic controls.
• Assuming Principle 6 is obsolete. It continues to matter for activities outside the Consumer Duty's scope.
• Renaming TCF files and calling the job complete. Existing fair-treatment controls may remain useful, but the Duty requires firms to consider its higher standard, broader reach and specific outcome rules.

The useful question is: what applies here?

The Consumer Duty did not erase the FCA's fair-treatment principle. It changed the governing standard for activities within its scope and made the expected discipline more explicit: understand the retail customer, identify the outcome, prevent foreseeable harm, support financial objectives and produce evidence that leads to action.

For credit brokers, the practical job is to classify activities correctly and then make the customer journey, partner oversight and management information match that conclusion. Our broader guide to the FCA Principles for credit brokers provides the wider context.

Authorised Compliance helps credit brokers review Consumer Duty scope, customer journeys, financial promotions, lender and lead-source oversight, monitoring frameworks and the evidence expected from a regulated business.

This article provides general compliance information and is not legal advice. The application of Principle 6, Principle 12 and PRIN 2A depends on the specific activity, customer, agreement and regulatory context.

Sources:

• FCA Handbook: PRIN 2, The Principles
• FCA Handbook: PRIN 3, Rules about application
• FCA Handbook: PRIN 2A, The Consumer Duty
• FCA: Implementing the Consumer Duty in credit brokers
• FCA: Outcomes monitoring, why understanding the consumer experience matters