Since 1 January 2026, every business running a Christmas savings club has had a legal duty to
protect its customers’ money. From that date, businesses that run consumer savings schemes
must protect customer payments and tell customers clearly how those payments are
safeguarded. The duty comes from Part 4, Chapter 3 of the Digital Markets, Competition and
Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA).
For CPA members this is nothing new. Holding customer money in independent trust accounts,
separate from the business, has always been a condition of CPA membership.
What the law requires
Traders must put in place, and maintain, either an insurance arrangement (section 286) or a
trust arrangement (section 287). Where a trust is used, three requirements matter most
-Independent trustees. The trustee, or where there is more than one, the majority of trustees, must be independent of the trader.
-A solvency declaration before any release. Before releasing funds to pay suppliers, trustees must receive a declaration from the trader confirming it is solvent.
-An independent audit every three years. The trust’s accounts must be independently audited at least once every three years.
Customers must also be told how their money is protected. Within 30 working days of a customer’s first payment, the trader must give them the name and contact details of the insurer or trustees and, where a trust is used, a copy of the trust deed.
Small operators are not automatically exempt. The exclusion applies only where the trader’s annual turnover is below £1 million and no customer account is ever credited with more than £120. A local butcher running a £150 Christmas food club is in scope.
Who enforces it
Enforcement falls primarily to Trading Standards in Great Britain and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, which can investigate and apply to the courts for sanctions, working alongside the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The duties are also an implied term of every consumer savings scheme contract, which gives customers a direct contractual claim of their own.
No savings scheme cases yet
As far as we are aware, no enforcement action has yet been published against a Christmas savings scheme under the new rules. The first full Christmas cycle under the Act is only now under way.
That should not reassure anyone. The wider regime of DMCCA shows a regulator that is willing to act, and to act quickly:
-Drip pricing, AA Driving School (April 2026). The CMA ordered the company behind
-the AA and BSM driving schools to pay a £4.2 million penalty and around £760,000 in
-consumer redress. The investigation opened in November 2025 and settled five months later.
-Pre-ticked extras, Marks Electrical (June 2026). The retailer was fined £720,000 and ordered to refund customers £600,000 for extra charges they had not expressly agreed to.
-Drip pricing, StubHub (June 2026). The ticket marketplace was fined £889,200 for adding mandatory fees only at the final stage of checkout, and must refund more than 50,000 customers.
-Ignoring the regulator, Euro Car Parks (February 2026). After seven unanswered attempts to obtain information, the CMA fined the company £473,000, 75% of the maximum available. That fine is under appeal.
The ceiling is high. The maximum fine under the new regime is £300,000 or 10% of the business’s global turnover, whichever is higher. Individuals are exposed too: directors and others found to be accessories to a company’s breach can personally face fines of up to £300,000.
What this means for savings schemes
The pattern in these cases is clear rules, simple tests and fast outcomes. The savings scheme duties are exactly that kind of rule. A trust either exists or it doesn’t. The trustees are either independent or they aren’t. The customer either received the trust deed within 30 working days or they didn’t. None of this needs complex economic analysis to prove. Any operator that has not yet put its protections in place, or whose trust deed predates the Act, should act now, before the Christmas payout season.
The CPA position
The Act largely mirrors the model CPA members already use, and our Code of Practice has been updated to reflect it. If you run a Christmas savings scheme and want to know what compliance looks like in practice, get in touch.