The complaints you receive often point to bigger problems that your organisation may have, and when it comes to risk assessments, it pays to take a closer look at the feedback you’re receiving.
For financial service businesses, this is about to become more than just a good idea.
Under RG 271, ASIC’s new regulatory guide comes into effect October 5, financial institutions are required to properly look at the complaints that they receive to determine whether or not they represent a systemic issue.
Identifying which complaints are a result of systemic issues is key to effective risk assessment. As ASIC explains:
“Complaints handling is the first step in the dispute resolution framework. Effective complaint management processes improve consumer outcomes and a firm’s risk management. It can also reduce the risk of downstream remediation costs.”
Identifying New Risk Scenarios
If you have completed a risk assessment, it is likely that it contains different scenarios of what could go wrong in your business operations and the risks associated with them occurring.
When complaints are received, you should consider whether or not this either fits within the risks that you have assessed and took steps to mitigate. If it does, it is an important part of risk assessment to determine if these measures are actually effective.
If the complaint poses a new risk that may not have been considered, it’s important to utilise the information given by the complainant.
Looking at other complaints you have received in the past to see if other customers have experienced the same can help determine if it is a systemic issue.
RG 271 And Systemic Issues
As previously mentioned, financial institutions have an obligation to take measures to identify any possible systemic issues in their business operations.
Once RG 271 comes into effect, in order to comply with the new requirements these businesses must:
- Set clear accountability for complaints handling functions
- Encourage and enable staff to escalate any possible systemic issues they encounter in individual complaints
- Consistently analyse complaint data sets to identify systemic issues
- Promptly escalate possible systemic issues to appropriate areas within the firm for investigation and action
- Report internally on the outcome of investigations, including actions taken, in a timely manner
This can take some time to do without the proper technology. Luckily, there’s a simple way to assess your risk of systemic issues...
The Easy Way to Assess Risks
At Causia®, our complaints software has all of the in-built features you need to adequately assess risks and analyse root causes.
Our industry-specific Complaints Pro® packs will keep you compliant with your requirements and continually improve the way in which you manage complaints. By using Fishbone/Ishikawa diagrams and 5WHY analysis to identify root causes, Complaints Pro® will find and fix the systemic issues in your business.
Interested? Book a demo today.
