Consumer Duty 2026: what your client letters need to evidence

Why letters still matter

Email and portal messages are often the durable record of what the client was told. Under Consumer Duty, those records need to support good outcomes, not just tick a template.

Clarity over cleverness

Short sentences, consistent definitions of risk, and explicit costs beat marketing polish. If a paraplanner needs a compliance manual to interpret a paragraph, rewrite the paragraph.

Fair value and conflicts

Where you discuss ongoing charges, service scope, or replacement business, tie numbers to the same sources your advice file uses. Automation helps when fee and holdings data flow from the CRM rather than being retyped.

Vulnerability and support

Your process should flag when enhanced explanations or follow-ups are required — and your letters should reflect that plan, not generic boilerplate.

Evidence of understanding

Where your firm requires it, document how understanding was checked. Automation can standardise prompts; it cannot replace a considered conversation.

Next step

If your team is still rebuilding these sections from scratch in Word every time, see how purpose-built drafting ties templates to live data — then book a walkthrough with your own letter types.