In Focus Collections
free debt advice and free to customer Debt Management Plans, where suitable, along with other solutions. Our advice capacity means we can offer
access to free advice, with no wait time. Through the advice process we build a detailed understanding of customers’ income and expenditure and provide them with a written recommendation and Standard Financial Statement. For customers that can afford to make
payments towards their debts and choose to start a solution, we work with them to help them re-establish the payment habit, which can be especially valuable if they have had a long payment break. MI is central to our partnership
approach. Using data and customer insight to get a deeper understanding of customers’ needs enables us to work with partners to deliver better outcomes for those customers. Whilst protecting the privacy of mutual customers, we are able to share daily and weekly MI and insight to deliver good outcomes for customers.
Vulnerable customers 38% of our customers have an additional vulnerability aside from being in financial difficulty. Our Extra Support Teams provide personalised one to one account management for the most vulnerable.
We are recognised across the sector as
leading on this issue and were invited in January to share our experience at the Ombudsman Services’ Vulnerability Workshop. Alison Beale, our senior regulatory counsel, also took part in first UK Finance’s Vulnerability Academy. Alison says: “Because people with serious problem debt can so often be vulnerable, we take a very proactive approach to identifying and providing appropriate support for those that need it. For example, we are now developing AI tools to help us identify customers with characteristics that suggest a high propensity to be vulnerable, so we can offer them additional support. On top of this we are working to include universal design best practice into our enhanced digital offering.” We work with creditors to identity
customers for whom continuing to pay their debts is not always possible, such as those with a terminal illness or severe mental- health issues – the quality of MI and customer service means that both customers and creditors trust us to negotiate debt forgiveness where appropriate. Our trailblazing vulnerability initiatives
include providing customers with access to counselling and other health-related benefits – resources to help them manage their mental wellbeing during and after lockdown – through our app. We also recognise the
Figure 1 – Customer Survey In early May, we reached out to customers to find out how the outbreak was affecting them financially: over 7,000 of them responded. In total, 38% of customers (or their partners) said they had been placed on furlough at 80% pay. Those customers impacted mainly worked in the following sectors: l 15% hospitality. l 14% manufacturing. l 13% non-food retail. l 10% construction. l 8% transportation and storage.
l 4% of customers that responded had been made redundant or lost their work contract at that time: l 12% of them worked in hospitality. l 10% construction. l 8% admin and support. l 7% manufacturing. l 6% non-food retail and wholesale.
l 15% of customers had applied for benefits since the crisis began l 74% of customers said they were feeling more anxious than usual
impact on colleagues of dealing with customer vulnerability every day and offer them support in the form of Mental Health First Aiders and access to counselling. As you would expect, all our colleagues
are trained to identify customers that are vulnerable at any point in time and offer them the tailored support they need. We use the Wiser Adviser protocols, and work closely with charities including Mind, The Alzheimer’s Society, Macmillan Cancer Support and Samaritans, both to train colleagues and to signpost customers.
Agility To keep colleagues safe, we began working from home before lockdown started on 23 March and have been available, on the telephone, for new and existing customers throughout. This transition to a sustainable WFH
environment with un-interrupted customer service meant that when the nature of incoming debt enquiries began to change at the beginning of lockdown, as more and more people found themselves with unstable incomes and uncertainty about their financial futures, we were able to move quickly. Within a month, we had launched a free
‘breathing space’ service for debt advice seekers who are unable to keep up with their unsecured credit repayments as a result of a loss or temporary change in circumstance due to coronavirus. This new service enables respite for customers as we contact customers’ unsecured lenders on their behalf, request a three-month payment break, and ask lenders to freeze interest and any further charges.
Evolution As Einstein said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.” With the forecast tsunami of demand for debt advice, the status quo is not an option. Now is the time to evolve the way that creditors and advice providers work together to develop innovative ways to support customers more effectively. We think our disruptive approach does exactly that. CCR
Find out more at
www.financialwellness
group.co.uk or
www.linkedin.com/company/ financial-wellness-group/
July 2020
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