Important notice affecting registered businesses 

TrustMark has updated two core documents: the Code of Conduct and the Framework Operating Requirements – which means all registered businesses need to read the following information. 

More of the detail 

1. Framework Operating Requirements (FOR) – revisions apply to Section 10 (Financial Protection).  
    

The key principles have been restructured to explicitly recognise that Registered Businesses are expected to offer their customers a suitable level of financial protection, and that varying options of protection are available for customers to choose from. In a small number of places, prescriptive ‘must’ language has been updated to ‘should’, reflecting the broader range of well-established protection mechanisms now available within the scheme. 

2. Code of Conduct (CoC) – revisions apply where a Registered Business is offering a customer an insurance-based protection product.  
    
   Where insurance is being offered, businesses are now required to be transparent about the cost and cover in their quotation, and to provide a clear breakdown of available options where more than one product is offered. The contract requirements have been updated in the same spirit, with insurance explicitly recognised as a potential additional charge that must be clearly disclosed. 

Why these changes have been made 

TrustMark’s aim is to protect consumers, Registered Businesses and Scheme Providers alike. These changes have been made to better serve that purpose. 

The revisions to the CoC and the FOR allow Registered Businesses to offer their customers supplementary or enhanced protection options, including insurance-backed products, in a way that is transparent, fair and clearly communicated.  

This is not, and should not be read as such, a replacement for the protection requirements that already exist; it is a broadening of the options available, so that customers can make informed choices about the level of protection that is right for them and their home. 

Where a Registered Business does offer an insurance product to a customer, the customer must now be given clear information about what that insurance covers, what it costs, and – where multiple options are available – a straightforward comparison between them. This puts the customer firmly in control. 

Read the updated documents 

Both updated documents are available on the TrustMark website: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/scheme-provider/documents