What an FCA-regulated CMC actually does (and doesn't)

If you've heard of claims management companies (CMCs) before, the association is probably PPI cold calls. We're a CMC, and the comparison is fair to address head-on.

So: what is a CMC actually for? What are we regulated by? And critically, when is using one of us a bad idea?

What CMCs do

A CMC is a business that:

1. Identifies people who might have a valid legal claim
2. Screens those claims for viability
3. Refers viable ones to a solicitor who does the actual legal work
4. Manages the client relationship and admin around the case

We're not lawyers. We don't go to court. We don't write the legal documents. A regulated solicitor does that part. What we do is the front-end work of figuring out whether you've got a case, packaging the evidence, and handing it to someone who can run it.

Why CMCs exist at all

For a complex legal area like housing disrepair, most tenants:

• Don't know they have a claim
• Don't know how to evidence one if they do
• Don't have a solicitor they can call cold
• Get bounced when they try to find one (housing disrepair isn't a glamorous area of law)

Solicitors don't typically have the marketing budget or the screening capacity to handle the volume of enquiries. CMCs fill that gap, we filter, package, and refer.

The honest reason we exist: most housing disrepair claims would never get brought without us. That's the value. Whether it's worth the fee on damages is a fair question, see below.

How CMCs are regulated

This is where reputation gets clarified.

Since April 2019, all CMCs in the UK must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the same body that regulates banks, mortgage brokers, and credit providers. Before 2019, CMCs were under a weaker regime called the Claims Management Regulator within the Ministry of Justice.

Under FCA rules, a CMC must:

• Hold appropriate permissions for the activities it carries out
• Maintain capital reserves
• Have a complaints procedure (and complainants can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service free)
• Keep prescribed records
• Carry out source-of-funds and anti-money-laundering checks
• Treat customers fairly (an FCA principle with enforcement teeth)
• Disclose all fees in writing before signing any agreement

Our FCA authorisation reference number is 1020217. You can verify any CMC's authorisation at the FCA register. If a CMC can't give you a registration number, walk away.

We're also registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (No. ZB796409) for data protection.

What we charge

No-win-no-fee. No upfront cost. If your case fails, you pay us nothing.

If your case succeeds, the solicitor's fee only comes out of your compensation, never out of your own pocket. They explain it in full before you sign.

Some of the solicitor's costs are recovered from the landlord directly when you win, those don't come out of your pocket. The fee covers the residual cost and the risk of cases that didn't succeed.

When you shouldn't use a CMC (including us)

Be honest with yourself:

Use your landlord's own complaints process instead if:

• Your damages would likely be under £3,000
• You're more interested in the landlord being made to fix it than in compensation
• You've got the time and inclination to handle the paperwork yourself

Use a solicitor directly if:

• You already know a housing disrepair solicitor who'll take your case
• Your case is unusually complex and you want to choose your own counsel
• You'd rather agree the fee directly with a solicitor yourself

Use us if:

• You don't know where to start
• You want someone to do the screening, paperwork, and chasing
• You want a no-win-no-fee setup with no upfront risk
• The fee model fits what you'd otherwise be giving up by doing nothing

How to spot a bad CMC

Red flags to walk away from:

• Cold-calls you out of the blue
• Won't give you their FCA registration number
• Charges any upfront fee
• Pressures you to sign on the call without sending the agreement to read
• Won't put the fee in writing before you sign
• Tells you you will get a set sum (no one can promise a claim outcome)
• Has no complaints policy

If a CMC does any of these, file a complaint with the FCA, they take it seriously.

Our specific scope

Support for Tenants only handles housing disrepair claims in England and Wales. We don't do:

• Personal injury (separate area of law, separate panel)
• Financial mis-selling (PPI, claims against banks)
• Immigration or asylum
• Anything in Scotland or Northern Ireland (different legal systems)

If you've come to us with something outside that scope, we'll tell you and point you to the right body.

In short

A CMC is a screening and admin service for legal claims. We're regulated by the FCA. We don't pretend to be lawyers. We exist because most tenants would never bring a viable claim without help, and the trade-off, an agreed fee taken only from your compensation if you win, is one many tenants choose to accept rather than do it all on their own.

If that's not the right trade-off for you, you are under no obligation to use us. That's not just our policy, it's our promise.

Support For Tenants is a trading name of Cyntex Group Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Claims Management Company. FRN 1020217. Registered in England and Wales.