The Advantages of Joining FDRC

What do members get for their fee?

1. Best Practice On-Demand Dispute Resolution Service: Your annual membership fee grants access to a robust on-demand dispute resolution scheme that adheres to legislative requirements and aligns with international industry consumer scheme benchmarks. These benchmarks encompass attributes such as independence, accessibility, effectiveness, efficiency, accountability, and fairness.

2. Insurance-Like Assurance: Think of the membership fee as akin to an insurance premium that provides you with an “at notice” service to assist when unforeseen issues arise with your customers. Ideally, you may never need to “claim” against it.

3. Experienced and Independent EDR Services Operator: FDRC is a sanctioned EDR services scheme administered by Luk Yong Capital LLP, one of the United Kingdom’s most reputable specialist financial conflicts management firm. The Financial Dispute Resolution Commission department in the firm employs staff members and collaborates with a large amount of specialist reviewers and dispute resolution practitioners across the United Kingdom. It annually handles disputes spanning various complexities.

4. Personalized Case Management and Efficient Systems: FDRC offers a fundamental triage, case management, investor care and dispute resolution services overseen by skilled facilitators and case managers who possess expertise in mediation, conflict management, and a deep understanding of the finance sector and its intricacies. Case managers manage complaint inquiries, facilitate information exchange, offer guidance on process and jurisdiction, maintain communication with parties throughout the member’s complaints process, and actively promote and facilitate early issue resolution between parties.

5. Expertise in Financial Matters: Our Scheme Director brings years of experience in the finance sector, encompassing various domains such as CFD, FX, banking, finance companies, financial advisory, managing consulting, precious metals, oil and gas, residential and commercial mortgages, plant and machinery, trade finance, industry representation, ESG, corporate social responsibilities, regulatory licensing and Green compliance services. Scheme adjudicators, who play a pivotal role, are all legal professionals with investigative and adjudicative backgrounds spanning health, insurance, finance, telecommunications, and housing sectors.

6. Robust and Independent Advisory Council: Our Advisory Council comprises independent individuals with industry and/or consumer experience, offering invaluable guidance on systemic issues and industry trends. The Advisory Council maintains vigilance to ensure that the scheme effectively fulfils its intended purpose and aligns with the benchmarks set for an industry consumer scheme.

7. Preventative Focus on Disputes and Complaints: Our underlying principle is “Avoid Disputes, Not Complaints.” We actively encourage and equip our members with tools and guidelines to foster continual engagement with their customers, seek feedback, and proactively prevent issues from escalating into costly disputes. Our “learn, prevent, and manage” approach aims to empower members and their customers to resolve issues themselves, averting the need for formal dispute processes. In the event that complaints do escalate into disputes, our experienced adjudicators issue written decisions that clearly articulate the rationale and outcome in plain, understandable language, enabling parties to align their future conduct accordingly.

8. Confidentiality Assured: We uphold the strictest confidentiality in all matters. The Financial Dispute Resolution Commission department maintains a comprehensive privacy policy and designates a Complaints Investigation & Privacy Officer to handle the most sensitive and private concerns and complaints about FDRC.

9. FDRC Membership Certificate: Upon payment of the membership fee, a certificate is issued to new and renewing members. Many members opt to proudly display their certificates in their offices or foyers. Additionally, we provide an electronic version for online dissemination.

10. Informative Newsletter: Our regular newsletter delivers case studies, scheme activity reports, insights into trends and systemic issues, tips on complaint handling, conflict management, and dispute resolution, updates on relevant legislation, and other pertinent content related to finance and disputes.

11. Comprehensive Reports: Each member receives a quarterly one-page snapshot summarizing complaint activity across the scheme, sector-specific insights, and data pertaining to their own business. The reports also feature updates on systemic issues and developments in the scheme, legislation, and industry codes.

12. Interactive Members-Only Website Section: Our dynamic website offers valuable resources related to the complaints and membership processes, news, feedback channels, full decisions, case studies, fact sheets, position statements, submissions, annual reports, links to other relevant websites, and a members’ area equipped with tools to enhance business operations.

13. Training and Presentations: Our Scheme Director, Scheme Adjudicator, and The Financial Dispute Resolution Commission practitioners are available to conduct workshops or presentations on scheme activity and conflict management issues.

14. Proactive Engagement on Systemic Issues: If we identify a systemic issue, we initiate contact with members, affording them an opportunity to rectify the situation before necessitating reporting to regulatory bodies.

15. Enhanced Consumer Confidence and Business Improvement: Participation in an independent third-party dispute resolution scheme enhances consumer confidence, promotes customer advocacy, and encourages business process and service improvement. When integrated with enhanced conflict and complaint management skills and processes, it can lead to substantial benefits for your business.

16. Accessible Support: Members can contact us at any time to seek clarification on the process, jurisdiction, or complaint management.

17. Optimal Value: We consistently evaluate our fees and service offerings to ensure that our members receive exceptional value for their investment.

Read more: https://fdrc.org.uk/firms/scheme-member-responsibilities/

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