Weekly Intelligence Roundup - 17th May 2026

Here is what changed for UK consumers this week, what it means for the disputes we help people fight, and what you should do about it.

Which?: when AI invents fake laws to win your complaint

On 15th May 2026 Which? published a major investigation into the rise of AI-generated complaints at the Financial Ombudsman Service. The headline finding, attributed to Marc Harris, the Chief Operating Officer of the Financial Ombudsman Service, is that up to one-third of recent complaints to the Ombudsman appear to have been generated or heavily assisted by AI. Some submissions run to more than 200 pages in response to FOS provisional decisions that were six pages long.

Which? tested three of the most-used consumer AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini) and found that on top of the length problem, the AI-generated submissions often contained fake laws and rulings, and misquoted real ones. Claims management companies were singled out for charging fees while using AI to produce these padded, error-filled submissions.

This matters for you, the person with a dispute, in three ways:

1. A long letter is not a strong letter. The Ombudsman has to read every page. If your complaint runs to 200 pages and the real argument could fit in eight, you are slowing your own case down and you are making it harder for a caseworker to find the points that actually matter.
2. A cited Act of Parliament that does not exist is worse than no citation at all. If you tell the Ombudsman that Section 47B of the Consumer Rights Act says something it does not actually say, you have just handed the company a free win on credibility. They check.
3. Claims management companies who charge a percentage of your award are not your friend if their tool produces this. If they are paid out of your settlement, their incentive is to send as many words as possible, not to win you the right amount.

Why we built EvenStance the opposite way

We launched EvenStance because Dan, our founder, spent two years winning his own consumer disputes the hard way and concluded that most people lose because they get bad help, not because they have bad cases. Frank, our AI advocate, was built specifically to not be the thing Which? is warning about:

• Every Act, Regulation and Handbook rule that Frank cites is verified against a registry of real UK law. If Frank cannot match a citation, it will not be written. We treat fabricated citations as a hard error, not a stylistic note.
• There is a length governor on letters to FOS. If a draft creeps past eight A4 pages without strong reason, Frank flags it and asks if you really want to send all of that, or whether the case is stronger compressed.
• Every output goes through a four-agent vetting pass (Legal, Tone, Fact, and Completeness) before you see it.
• We charge a flat tier, not a percentage of your award. We have no incentive to make you send more pages than your case needs.
• You get a clear AI disclaimer, an audit trail, and the right to edit before sending. Frank produces a first draft of a letter, not a "send" button.

If you are about to draft your own FOS complaint using a free LLM, please read the Which? article first and think about whether the tool you are using does the things in the bullets above.

British Gas to pay £70m for prepayment-meter mistreatment 2018–2021

Ofgem confirmed on 15th May 2026 that British Gas will write off up to £70 million of energy debt for vulnerable customers and pay £20 million into Ofgem's Voluntary Redress Fund. That is on top of the £22.4 million British Gas already paid out for 2022–2023.

Compensation is paid in tiers depending on harm:

• £40–£60 for process or data issues
• £250 for insufficient debt support
• £250 for unfair treatment
• £500 where vulnerability was not considered
• £1,000 for inappropriate meter installation

You do not need to apply. British Gas must contact every affected customer and pay them by 30th June 2027. If you were forced onto a prepayment meter by British Gas between 2018 and 2021 and you have not heard from them in the next few months, call them. If you don't get a sensible answer, this is exactly the kind of case we built EvenStance to help with.

Ofgem also issued permanent bans on forced prepayment installations for three groups: people over 75, households with children under 2, and households where someone needs continuous energy for medical reasons. If any of those describe you, or someone you support, and you are facing a forced prepayment installation right now, those bans matter, quote them at the supplier.

The FCA's three signals this week point in the same direction

On 13th May the FCA confirmed two new senior appointments, both pointing towards heavier use of data and AI: Simon Walls as permanent Executive Director, Markets, and Johan Sekora as Chief Operating Officer, joining from Stockholm with a focus on technology and financial crime.

On 14th May FCA Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi used the Financial Crime Conference to confirm:

• 5,000+ intelligence records will be shared via the Police National Database by June 2026
• A new Financial Crime Detection Programme using advanced and network analytics
• Participation in I-SCAN, a global database of unauthorised-firm alerts
• An AI Lab TechSprint to help investors spot scams

He noted that investment fraud victims lose an average of over £25,000 per case.

On 15th May the FCA, Bank of England and HM Treasury issued a joint statement on frontier AI models and cyber resilience, setting out what boards and senior managers must understand and how firms must strengthen vulnerability management, third-party risk and automated defences.

Why this matters to you: when a regulated firm tells you "we did everything we reasonably could" after a data breach or service outage, these are the standards they need to be measured against. We use them.

FCA fines and bans Frank Breuer £755,000 for pension transfer misconduct

On 12th May 2026 the FCA fined and banned Frank Breuer, the joint owner and sole director of Bluesky Wealth Management Limited, for serious misconduct in defined-benefit pension transfer advice:

• £755,000 fine (including disgorgement and interest)
• Banned from working in UK financial services
• Operated DB transfer advice without appropriate professional indemnity insurance from April 2019
• Conducted at least 16 DB pension transfers while uninsured
• Repeatedly misled the FCA about the insurance position

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has already paid at least £214,772.88 of customer liabilities and the scheme remains open to further claims. The Financial Ombudsman Service has upheld several complaints about Bluesky's DB advice from June 2022 onwards.

If you were advised to transfer a defined-benefit pension by Bluesky Wealth Management Limited at any time from April 2019, this is a clear trigger to investigate redress. Two routes are open: file an FSCS claim against the firm (FSCS pays up to £85,000 for investment claims), and file a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service. If you paid any advisory fee by credit card, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 may give you a third route against the card provider.

The FCA wants to know how investment firms treat bereaved customers

On 13th May 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'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.

£963,900 ICO fine on South Staffordshire Water. 633,887 affected

The Information Commissioner's Office fined South Staffordshire Plc and South Staffordshire Water Plc £963,900 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.

633,887 customers had personally identifiable information exposed, including bank account numbers, sort codes, usernames and passwords. The ICO cited specific failings: only 5% of the IT estate was being monitored, the firm was still running Windows Server 2003, and vulnerability management was poor.

If you were a customer of South Staffordshire Water, Cambridge Water or any of the South Staffordshire group brands between September 2020 and August 2022, you may have a claim for non-material damages under Article 82 of UK GDPR. The limitation period in England and Wales is six years from the breach, so anyone who received a notification letter in mid-to-late 2022 has until mid-to-late 2028 to bring a claim.

The FCA's penalty regime is structurally shrinking

On 16th May Foreign Policy Journal published an analysis confirming what regulatory specialists have been saying for months: the FCA's fining power is collapsing. Full-year fines have fallen 78% over five years to about £124 million. The 2026 year-to-date total is just over £16 million.

What does this mean for you? Hoping for an FCA fine to deliver your compensation is not a strategy. Even when the FCA does fine a firm, the money flows to the Treasury, not to consumers. The route to actual money back into your pocket is and remains: complain to the firm, escalate to the relevant Ombudsman, and if that fails, go to court.

Ofcom Q4 2025: complaints rose for the first time since 2023

Published on 11th May 2026, Ofcom's Q4 2025 complaint data shows the first increase since 2023. Per 100,000 customers:

Broadband: Vodafone 11, TalkTalk 10, EE 8, BT 8, Sky 7, Plusnet 5, Virgin Media 5. 52% of Vodafone broadband complaints came down to faults, service and provisioning.

Mobile: O2 7, Sky Mobile 5, iD Mobile 3, Vodafone 2, Three / EE / Tesco Mobile 1 each. 35% of O2 complaints were about contracts, driven by mid-contract price rises.

If you have been on the phone to Vodafone about a broken broadband line for weeks, or to O2 about a sudden mid-contract price hike, you are not on your own. After eight weeks without resolution you can escalate to CISAS or Ombudsman Services: Communications for free.

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

A Which? investigation published on 14th May 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. Their legal angle is the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), specifically the "misleading actions" provisions.

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.

Credit card interest rates hit a record, and that is a Consumer Duty problem

On 16th May Which? reported that average UK credit card purchase APRs have hit a record high. If you are on a standard variable APR that has risen sharply over the last 12 months, and particularly if you are in or near financial difficulty, you have a credible complaint. The right framing is not "I do not like the rate", it is "the firm has failed to demonstrate that this rate represents fair value and the firm has failed to deliver appropriate forbearance under PS24/2."

Product recalls this week

Which? published or updated 8 recalls in the week of 15th May:

• Dunelm Novelty Doorstops (27 designs), asbestos in sand filling
• Babysense MaxView Baby Monitor VBM55RX (Amazon), battery overheating
• Yaheetech Barrel Chair and Velvet Sofa Bed, fire risk, fails UK flammability
• Build-A-Bear Heartwarming Hugs Bear 2, choking from detachable zipper
• BHS Lyocell & Plush Mattress Enhancers, fire risk
• 3D Printed Dragon Fidget Toy (eBay), choking
• Hobbycraft 3D Pen Kit, burns

The Dunelm asbestos doorstops are the standout. If you own one, follow Dunelm's disposal instructions with gloves and a mask, and keep your receipt, your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987 are both engaged.

Where to take it from here

If any of these stories describe your situation, we built EvenStance to help. Start a case at evenstance.com, or have a conversation with Frank if you want to think out loud before you commit. Either way, please do not use a free LLM to draft your Ombudsman complaint without reading the Which? article first.

Sources: Ofgem, FCA, Ofcom (via ISPreview), Citizens Advice, MSE, Which?, ICO, BAILII, legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK. This is general information and is not legal advice. If you want help with a specific dispute, log in and tell Frank what happened.