The Financial Conduct Authority
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for regulating consumer credit.
Running a consumer credit business and other credit-related activities requires authorisation by the FCA. Debt counselling, debt adjusting and providing credit information services (ie, assistance to obtain details of credit reference files or information about how to change credit reference files) are also all credit-related activities requiring authorisation.
You can check whether a firm is authorised at . Firms that are not authorised can be reported to the FCA helpline (tel: 0800 111 6768). It is a criminal offence to carry out a debt-related activity without the appropriate authorisation.
Local trading standards departments may be able to help resolve individual cases. As the regulator, the FCA cannot provide redress in individual cases.