A firm must not:
refuse to deal with a not-for-profit debt advice body, debt counsellor, debt adjuster or with another person acting on behalf of a customer, unless there is an objectively justifiable reason for doing so;
refuse to deal with a customer who is developing a repayment plan, a third party who is assisting a customer to develop a repayment plan or a third party who is developing a debt management plan for the customer's debts, unless there is an objectively justifiable reason for doing so;
[Note: paragraph 3.9d of DCG]
operate a policy:
[Note: paragraph 3.49e of DMG]
of refusing to negotiate with certain third parties or with a customer developing their own repayment plan; or
[Note: paragraph 3.49c (box) of DMG]
[Note: paragraph 3.49a of DCG]
CONC 1.2.2 R requires a firm to ensure its employees and agents comply with CONC and that it takes reasonable steps to ensure other persons who act on its behalf do so. This rule would apply where a debt collector acts as agent or on behalf of a lender.
Situations where it may be justified for a firm to refuse to deal with a person acting on behalf of a customer may include, for example, refusing to deal with that person where the firm is able to show that the person has failed to comply with consumer protection legislation or with FCA rules.
[Note: paragraph 3.48 of DMG]
[Note: paragraph 3.49d of DMG]
The FCA does not believe it is justified to bypass contacting a person acting on behalf of a customer merely because that person has not agreed to comply with the Insolvency Service’s Debt Management Protocol.