The Consumer Duty Alliance, the not-for-profit industry group supporting advisers with their duty commitments, has launched a free diagnostic tool.

The CDA says the tool will help firms provide evidence on their Consumer Duty progress and also spot potential business “growth opportunities.”

The CDA says it expects the FCA, which launched the Consumer Duty, to be more focused on duty compliance in Q1 2025.

The tool has been launched in conjunction with fintech Consumer Duty Diagnostic. It will help firms, “assess, quantify and easily report on their client-centric readiness and compliance status.”

The Consumer Duty Alliance has more than 20,000 members and 100 affiliates and was set up to help advisers with their commitments to the FCA’s new Consumer Duty. The duty requires firms to make sure clients are engaged with and treated fairly at all stages of the “customer journey.” It covers both new and legacy products and advice.

The tool is free to use for alliance members and affiliates and takes 10 minutes to complete. The CDA says it provides a platform for financial services firms of all sectors and sizes to assess themselves against the Duty’s four outcomes.

The tool's 10 subject areas and 50 questions will allow firms to benchmark their progress in terms of outcome testing, management information, cultural transformation and their support for client vulnerabilities, the CDA says.

Firms can also use the tool to discover new growth opportunities through, with and via their client base.

The tool offers:

• Diagnostic questions across all areas of the Consumer Duty
• A personalised report, sent to the respondent upon completion, recommending actions and programmes to meet Consumer Duty requirements and explore new commercial growth opportunities
• A way to gauge and collate perceptions across multiple employees within the same firm
• Expert support for firms wanting help to explore their diagnostic results

Keith Richards, chief executive of the CDA, said: “The focus on the duty’s outcomes rather than compliance with what has often been prescriptive tick box rules in the past, has already provided significant evidence of good consumer outcomes - in turn good consumer outcomes are leading to good business outcomes across the sector.”

“Notwithstanding some challenges remain and we have seen a record number of section 166 notices (skilled persons reports) issued during the course of the past year, so staying one step ahead and addressing identifiable gaps sooner could result in good outcomes for all stakeholders.”

Chris Adlard, founder of the Consumer Duty Diagnostic, said “As an affiliate of the CDA we were inspired to work together on a pro bono basis to offer this free version and we’re sure it can help firms of all sizes assess their progress against Duty regulations and identify opportunities for enhanced performance.”

• Use this webpage to access the free Consumer Duty Diagnostic tool from the Consumer Duty Alliance.