Where every word counts.
Consumer Duty requires firms to take reasonable steps to evidence that their communications are likely to be understood.
This is where CUE helps. We help firms move from assumption to evidence by reviewing customer communications, identifying where misunderstanding may arise, improving wording and structure, and testing whether customers understand what matters. The result is a clear evidence trail showing what was reviewed, what changed, why it changed, and where further testing may be needed.
“Firms should take steps to satisfy themselves, through the appropriate use of testing and evidence, that their communications are likely to be understood by their intended recipients”
FCA, Finalised Guidance for firms on the Consumer Duty FG22-5, chapter 8 (The Consumer Understanding Outcome)
The evidence gap
Most firms already review their customer communications.
The problem is not effort. It is evidence.
Readability scores alone do not show whether customers understand what matters
Plain English checks alone do not show whether customers form the right understanding.
Cosmetic changes are not enough if firms do not test whether they improved understanding.
One off testing is not enough if firms do not monitor where customers continue to struggle.
When firms need to explain why a communication is appropriate, the supporting evidence can be limited or hard to show.
Customer understanding is now a core Consumer Duty expectation. Firms need a more reliable, repeatable and auditable way to evidence it.
The capability gap
Most firms know what the FCA expects..
The problem is not awareness. It is delivery.
Marketing teams write the copy, and legal or compliance teams check the disclosures, but customer understanding does not always have a natural home.
Reviewing, improving and testing communications across BAU requires time, specialist judgement and a detailed audit trail.
Building an evidence-based testing framework from scratch can be difficult to scale.
Standard research agencies can be expensive, fragmented and slow.
Many research approaches are not designed specifically for Consumer Duty or the level of auditability firms may need.
Firms need a practical way to combine communication improvement, customer testing and governance-ready evidence.
Our Solution
We provide structured, auditable evidence of customer understanding in the communications firms create.
We do this by combining data-led comprehension analysis, behavioural and psycholinguistic insights, target market testing and clear regulatory framing.
The result? Customer-facing content that better supports understanding, and evidence you can stand behind.
Designed for scrutiny. Built for real-world use.
If Customer Understanding matters to your regulatory outcomes, we help you evidence it in the communications you create.
We work with:
Product and Marketing teams
Compliance and risk functions
Legal and governance teams
Complete Confidence
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One Framework
Complete Confidence - One Framework
Why Choose CUE?
Regulatory Alignment
CUE is designed around Consumer Duty and the FCA’s Customer Understanding outcome, helping firms evidence that communications are clear, appropriate for the intended audience, and capable of supporting informed decisions.
Evidence-Led Methodology
Our approach combines plain-English analysis, psycholinguistic indicators, readability scoring, structural review and customer-testing design. We look at how information is written, how easy it is to process, and where misunderstanding could lead to poor outcomes.
From Insight To Action
CUE does not just identify issues. We provide practical recommendations, rewritten content, blacklines, audit trails and, where needed, A/B testing so firms can show how findings have been acted on.
Customer Calibration
CUE’s scoring logic and Virtual Customer Personas are calibrated against observed customer responses across Basic, Informed and Sophisticated target-market segments.
Robust Testing Standards
Where customer testing is needed, we use structured survey design, confidence checks, neutral question wording, semi-structured interviews and open-prompt moderation.
Governed AI, Human Oversight
AI helps us work consistently, at scale and with strong pattern detection, but high-stakes conclusions remain subject to human review, quality control and a clear audit trail.
