First4Lawyers receives FCA authorisation

First4Lawyers, the UK’s largest independent legal marketing collective, has received full authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for its activities as a Claims Management Company (CMC).

Following a review of CMC regulation, the Government announced that from 1 April 2019, the FCA would take over regulation of CMCs. In the interim period, all CMCs had to apply for temporary permission, before beginning the full authorisation process in July 2019.

The FCA has three main areas of focus, which aim to improve standards and service across the claims management sector, they are:

• Customers – “we want customers to be empowered and confident in choosing a value-for-money service which is appropriate for their needs.”

• CMCs – “we want CMCs to help customers secure redress in a way that complies with our rules and be authorised so that they meet a common set of standards.”

• Regulatory – “we want to regulate in a way which prioritises high standards of conduct and improves public confidence in claims management services.”

First4Lawyers authorisation allows them to continue delivering regulated claims across personal injury, medical negligence, family law, wills and probate, property and conveyancing, employment law and motoring offences.

Managing director Qamar Anwar said: “We are very pleased to have received full authorisation from the FCA. The whole team has worked very hard over the last few months to ensure that our standards and services meet or exceed the FCA requirements.

“For the last 12 years, First4Lawyers has had an unrivalled reputation for ethical and effective claims handling, and we are pleased to be able to continue to supply high quality leads to our panel firms.”

The company will now appear on the Financial Services Register, and it’s FCA authorisation number is FRN835374.