Communicating with ‘vulnerable consumers’ as ‘valuable customers’

Understanding vulnerability

As consumer vulnerability continues to make strong headlines and remains a key focus in regulated industries, there is growing pressure on financial services organisations to improve experiences and outcomes for those most vulnerable, whose needs aren’t necessarily being met by standard legislation.

In line with a steady stream of research published over the past twenty years, regulatory bodies have begun, in recent years, to consider vulnerability in its entirety and the challenges presented to ‘everyday’ people; recognising vulnerability as a non-discriminating set of circumstances. 

To put these vulnerabilities into context:

• Over 300,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer every year.
• Every day, 1,121 people are made redundant from their jobs.
• In 2017, the provisional number of deaths registered in the UK was 607,172, affecting those people around them.
• 1 in 4 people are believed to be living in the UK with a mental health issue.
• With an aging population, 1 in 4 of us is expected to be aged 65 and over by 2050

In reality, such circumstances described are likely to affect all of us, and those around us, during our life stages and customer journeys.  The level of vulnerability this places a person under depends largely on individual resilience and capability for coping with a particular challenge, at a given time.  A person can move in and out of vulnerability, intermittently, with overlapping effects, such as, bereavement and stress, with stress leading to ill-health.  Therefore, we must consider vulnerability as ever-changing and contextual by nature, requiring firms to adapt more flexibly and readily to individual needs.

With this understanding, the financial services industry has formed partnerships with charities and consumer groups to launch the ‘Financial Services Vulnerability Taskforce’, addressing ways in which institutions can improve vulnerable customer experiences.  One key Taskforce recommendation is around how firms communicate with those most vulnerable.

By John Dovey, Client Relationship Director - Paragon Customer Communications