Martin Lewis’s charity will have powers to make ‘super complaints’

A charity founded by consumer champion Martin Lewis to tackle the toxic links between money and mental health issues has been recommended for “super complainant” status.

It means that the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute will be given the powers to “bump specific issues up the list”.

It will be able to take super complaints on consumer harms to watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Money and Mental Health has been recommended for the status by the Department for Business and Trade and the charity said it will be awarded in April, once the relevant legislative amendment is approved.

It will give the charity powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 to raise complaints to the CMA about consumer harms caused by market failures or behaviour by businesses in a range of sectors, including consumer retail and energy.

If the charity takes forward a super complaint, the CMA has to respond within 90 days.

In general, potential actions that may arise following super complaints can include enforcement action, recommending changes to the law or a further investigation into the issues.

The charity said it has also applied to the Treasury for equivalent powers to make super complaints to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR).

Money and Mental Health founder and chair Martin Lewis said: “We’re very grateful for this new status. In plain terms it means that if we do detailed formal authoritative research on an issue of consumer harm the CMA must respond, and it is also a strong push for it to consider a formal investigation. In effect it means we have a power to bump specific issues up the list.”

He added: “As well as the formal powers super complainant status bestows, it’s also a kite mark of the charity’s research quality, showing the authority that the talented Money and Mental Health team bring to their work. That too is useful, as when talking to firms and regulators, they know if needed and action isn’t happening, we have an extra way to escalate issues.

“I set up the charity because money problems and mental health issues are a marriage made in hell. They feed off each other. People who have mental health problems are over three times more likely to be in debt than the rest of the population. This step-up will help us continue our work to try to soften the link between the two.”

Other organisations which have been given powers to make super complaints include Which? and Citizens Advice.