Case Study: Citizens Advice helps millions of consumers avoid the loyalty penalty with PA Consulting

Making sure millions of consumers are charged fairly for essential services

Citizens Advice, the UK consumer advocacy organization, wanted to tackle the “loyalty penalty” that sees vulnerable consumers paying more for essential services like mobile contracts, broadband, mortgages, and insurance simply for staying with the same provider. PA Consulting supported Citizens Advice as it prepared a super-complaint to the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA), helping them build the strongest possible case.

PA Consulting carried out a full review of evidence from academics, regulators, and company balance sheets to assess the wider economic impacts of the loyalty penalty. The analysis identified five key markets where the issue was most likely harming market efficiency and consumers, helping lead to a CMA package of reforms across those markets; as a result, millions of consumers are now less likely to be trapped in bad-value contracts for essential services.

Citizens Advice