What the regulators did this week - 15 May 2026

A fast read of the week's UK consumer-protection news, what it means in practice, and where your rights kick in.

1. The FCA wants to know how investment firms treat bereaved customers

On 13 May 2026 the FCA announced a sector-wide review into how investment firms, platforms, advisers and wealth managers, support customers who have lost a loved one. The headline number is uncomfortable: only 47% of bereaved customers said they felt adequately supported.

If you've ever tried to close a deceased relative's investment account, you'll know why. Repeated requests for the same paperwork. Confusing letters. Long delays. Fees still ticking over while you wait. The FCA has already run similar reviews in banking and insurance, what's new here is that the pattern is now under the lens for platforms, advisers and wealth managers as well.

What this means for you: if you're handling a bereaved person's estate and a firm is dragging its feet, you can complain to the firm under DISP, and then escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The FCA's review doesn't change your statutory rights, but it does mean firms are now on notice that bereavement service is being graded.

2. A £755,000 fine and a ban for a pension adviser who left customers exposed

On 12 May 2026 the FCA fined Frank Breuer £755,000 and banned him from UK financial services. Mr Breuer was the directing mind behind Bluesky Wealth Management Limited, which carried out defined-benefit pension transfers for customers, at least 16 of them while the firm had no professional indemnity insurance. The FCA says he misled the FCA about the insurance, ignored restrictions imposed on the firm, stripped firm assets through dividends and personal loans, and ultimately placed the firm into insolvency.

Customers carried the loss. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has paid out £214,772.88 to date. The Financial Ombudsman Service has been upholding complaints against Bluesky since June 2022.

If you transferred a DB pension via Bluesky Wealth Management Limited and haven't already claimed: check your eligibility with the FSCS first. If the adviser's failure caused you loss and your claim falls outside FSCS limits, FOS may still hear a complaint against the firm's successor or against any other regulated party in the chain.

3. 13,000 mortgage prisoners moved from one inactive lender to another

MSE reported on 12 May 2026 that ~13,000 mortgage borrowers held with Co-op Bank's five inactive subsidiaries (Mortgage Agency Services Number Two, Four, Five and Six, and Platform Funding) were transferred in October 2025 to Aspiro Mortgages, a trading name of Topaz Finance, and also an inactive lender. The Aspiro SVR is currently 7.63%.

There is a route out. Co-op Bank (now owned by Coventry Building Society since January 2025) is letting affected borrowers apply to return to the active Co-op Bank book until October 2026. That route is via a mortgage broker; MSE recommends Fluent Money and Key Advice. If you've been moved to Aspiro, you have around five months to consider this. Coming back to the active book opens up better rates and easier remortgaging in future.

If you're trapped on an SVR and the broker route doesn't work, the FCA's Modified Affordability Assessment ("MAA") exists specifically for borrowers in this position, ask brokers to use it. And if you believe you've been treated unfairly by an inactive lender, the Financial Ombudsman Service is open to you regardless of who currently administers your mortgage.

4. South Staffordshire Water fined £963,900. 633,887 customers had bank details exposed

The Information Commissioner's Office fined South Staffordshire Plc and South Staffordshire Water Plc £963,900 (reduced 40% after early admission of wrongdoing) following the August 2022 cyber attack. The breach was claimed by the Cl0p ransomware group. Forensics show the initial intrusion was in September 2020, nearly two years before detection.

The numbers are uncomfortable. 633,887 customers had personally identifiable information exposed. Bank account numbers and sort codes. Usernames and passwords for the company's online services. The ICO cited specific failings: only 5% of the IT estate was being monitored; the firm was still running Windows Server 2003; privilege escalation was effectively unrestricted; vulnerability management was poor.

If you're a customer of South Staffordshire Water, Cambridge Water or any of the South Staffordshire group brands and you were a customer between September 2020 and August 2022: you may have a claim for non-material damages under Article 82 of UK GDPR. This is the distress / anxiety claim route. The threshold is real, you have to be able to point to actual distress, not just the fact of a breach, but a leak of bank account numbers and sort codes alongside passwords is the kind of fact pattern that supports a claim.

5. Online marketplaces and "Recommended Retail Prices" that don't actually exist

A Which? investigation published on 14 May 2026 named four major online marketplaces (Amazon Marketplace, eBay, Temu, Wayfair) and found that headline "discount off RRP" claims often referenced prices the product was never actually sold at elsewhere.

Of 20 sampled products on each platform, Which? found questionable RRPs on Temu 15/20, eBay 12/20, Wayfair 10/20, Amazon Marketplace 1/20. Their legal angle is the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), specifically the "misleading actions" provisions. A misleading-action claim can sit alongside the Consumer Rights Act 2015 protections you already have around price clarity at point of sale.

If you bought from one of these marketplaces relying on an RRP discount that wasn't real, screenshot the listing, save the order confirmation, and complain to the marketplace first. Then, if needed, the Competition and Markets Authority is the regulator on DMCCA pricing claims; small claims is open to you for direct loss.

6. Your job title is changing your home insurance premium

The same Which? edition (14 May) published an investigation showing your stated job title can swing your home-insurance premium by hundreds of pounds. Their figures: a warehouse packer pays a median of £155/yr, an investment manager £519/yr, a £364 gap. Even slightly different titles for similar work move the price: "chartered engineer" was £297, "engineer" £226.

It's tempting to round-down a job title to bring the premium down. Don't. The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 (CIDRA) governs what you tell an insurer at quote time. Deliberate or reckless misrepresentation lets the insurer void cover, refuse a claim, and add your name to the Insurance Fraud Register, which damages credit, mortgages and future insurance.

The honest play is to shop around. Comparison sites, early renewals (around 21 days out is the sweet spot for most insurers), and annual payment beat instalments.

A note on what's still broken on our intelligence pipeline

We routinely scan FOS published decisions every morning. As of today, the FOS public decisions search has returned HTTP 403 to automated tools for 13 consecutive days. We're working on a fix, partner credentials or an RSS / mailing-list route, and we'll let you know when our daily roundups can include FOS upheld-decision summaries again.

This is a draft for editorial review. Sign-offs needed on the legislative references (DMCCA, CIDRA, UK GDPR Article 82) and on the specific routing recommendations before publication.