Fairer Finance Clear & Simple Mark

The Fairer Finance Clear & Simple Mark recognises documents and websites that are written in simple language and are clearly designed.

Our criteria

We analyse documents in three ways:

• Clarity of language
  This includes analysis of reading grade, jargon and use of examples.

• Clarity of design
  This includes analysis of number of words on the page, font size, line spacing and colour contrast.

• Clarity of content
  This includes analysis of the document structure and headings, ensuring key customer lines of enquiry are answered.

Who holds the Clear & Simple Mark?

Insurer ManyPets was the first company to hold the Clear & Simple Mark. It was awarded this for its pet insurance policy wording. An 11-year-old would find this document easy to read. It is simple to navigate and demonstrates a good use of colour and white space. The tone is conversational and the use of jargon is minimal throughout.

Coventry Building Society's Savings Account Ts & Cs became the first in the banking sector to qualify for our mark. Its document effectively uses colour to mark out different sections. The contents page is clear and easy for consumers to understand.

TSB was the first bank to be awarded the Clear & Simple Mark for its Personal Banking Terms and Conditions and Banking Charges Document. Its documents include a helpful navigation tool so the reader can easily flick between different sections.

Co-operative Funeralcare was the first funeral plan provider to receive the Clear & Simple Mark. Its Terms & Conditions make good use of colour coding and clear language.

Royal London was the first protection insurer to receive the Clear & Simple Mark, for its new Life Insurance and Serious Illness policy document. The rewrite was done by Fairer Finance.

Scottish Widows became the second protection insurer to win the Clear & Simple Mark for its life and critical illness policy document.

Marcus, the savings bank from Goldman Sachs, won the Clear & Simple Mark for its savings terms and conditions. Its document is simple, uses white space well, and has a low reading age.

Virgin Money has achieved the Clear & Simple Mark for its current account terms and continues to work towards all its documents passing the mark.

Habito was the first mortgage provider to reach our high bar and achieve the Clear & Simple Mark. Documents in this sector can be some of the longest and most complex but Habito proved that there is no excuse - all financial services can have clear and understandable communications.

Sunlife now has our accreditation on three documents - their Over 50's Life Insurance guide, Funeral Plan guide, and Equity Release guide. Having clear documents and jargon-free documents will help their customers better understand the products they are purchasing.

Animal Friends becomes the second pet insurer to reach the high bar and achieve our Clear & Simple mark. Their new documents also have web versions which can be more accessible both for people with disabilities and for easier reading on mobile devices.

The Clear & Simple Mark in use

We'd like to see all financial services companies reach this level of transparency.

More from our blog

Some of the companies who have qualified for the Clear & Simple Mark