Super-complaint

A super-complaint is a complaint made in the UK by a state-approved 'super-complainant'/watchdog organisation on behalf of consumers, which was fast-tracked to a higher authority such as the Office of Fair Trading (prior to its dissolution on 1 April 2014). The official body now in charge of general consumer protection super complaints is the Competition and Markets Authority.[1]

A super complaint, as defined in section 11(1) of the UK’s Enterprise Act 2002, is a complaint submitted by a designated consumer body that “any feature, or combination of features, of a market in the UK for goods or services is or appears to be significantly harming the interests of consumers”[2]

Super complaints have also specifically been introduced for the financial markets in the UK under the Financial Conduct Authority FCA.[3] The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) provides that certain consumer bodies may complain to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) about features of a market for financial services in the UK that may be significantly damaging the interests of consumers. The Government first issued guidance for bodies seeking designation as super complainants and then received and ultimately approved the newly appointed bodies which can make super complaints to the FCA:[4] Consumer Council Northern Ireland, Citizens Advice, The Federation of Small Businesses and Which?

Some of the super complainants under the Office of Fair Trading scheme were:

What Car? also applied, but was rejected.

See also

References

  1. ↑ TheUndisciplined, "Is It a Bird? Is It a Plane? No, It's a Super Complaint!"
  2. ↑ Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
  3. ↑ Huntswood, “Shifting power? FCA s.234C super-complaints”, February 2014,
  4. ↑ HM Treasury, “Guidance for bodies seeking designation as super-complainants to the Financial Conduct Authority “, last updated July 2013,
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