A charity established by consumer advocate Martin Lewis to address the damaging interplay between financial struggles and mental health has been put forward for "super complainant" status.
This allows the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute to expedite the handling of specific consumer protection issues.
The enhanced status, recommended by the Department for Business and Trade, is anticipated to be formally granted in April following the necessary legislative amendments.
It will enable the charity to lodge super complaints with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concerning consumer detriment arising from market failures or detrimental business practices across various sectors, including consumer retail and energy. This authority stems from the Enterprise Act 2002. The new powers will allow the institute to "bump specific issues up the list" for regulatory scrutiny.
If the charity takes forward a super complaint, the CMA has to respond within 90 days.
In general, potential actions that may arise following super complaints can include enforcement action, recommending changes to the law or a further investigation into the issues.
The charity said it has also applied to the Treasury for equivalent powers to make super complaints to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR).
Money and Mental Health founder and chair Martin Lewis said: “We’re very grateful for this new status. In plain terms it means that if we do detailed formal authoritative research on an issue of consumer harm the CMA must respond, and it is also a strong push for it to consider a formal investigation. In effect it means we have a power to bump specific issues up the list.”
He added: “As well as the formal powers super complainant status bestows, it’s also a kite mark of the charity’s research quality, showing the authority that the talented Money and Mental Health team bring to their work. That too is useful, as when talking to firms and regulators, they know if needed and action isn’t happening, we have an extra way to escalate issues.
“I set up the charity because money problems and mental health issues are a marriage made in hell. They feed off each other. People who have mental health problems are over three times more likely to be in debt than the rest of the population. This step-up will help us continue our work to try to soften the link between the two.”
Other organisations which have been given powers to make super complaints include Which? and Citizens Advice.
