Support for Vulnerable Customers

Whippet Vehicles Ltd – Support for Vulnerable Customers

The Financial Conduct Authority guidance affects all financial firms and highlights the actions they should take to understand the needs of vulnerable customers to ensure they are treated fairly. Whippet Vehicles Ltd looks to identify, engage, support and signpost help to those experiencing difficulties.

Ben Cross, Managing Director of Whippet Vehicles Ltd emphasises the importance of looking beyond the label.

“Customers may not want to be labelled as vulnerable”. “While we agree there needs to be reference to vulnerabilities, we wish to remove the stigma from having a label as a vulnerable customer and understand our customers’ needs, how their wellbeing is affected during their experience with us and the overall customer outcome.

“We don’t believe there’s a checklist or specific criteria to decide if a customer is vulnerable. We all go through difficult times. It is important to be aware of the ever-changing world and the demands and pressures that anyone can find themselves under at some point in their lives that may mean they require support.”

‘’Whippet Vehicles Ltd employees are trained to recognise vulnerability in customers and how to support them. We follow a trained and tailored approach to meet the customer’s needs so that they experience outcomes as good as other customers and receive consistently fair treatment.

We continually gather feedback from our customers so that we can understand their needs. We regularly review the design of our sales and support services to ensure they continue to meet the needs, characteristics and objectives of our target market, including those customers with characteristics of vulnerability. We design our communications to be clear, fair and not misleading and review them regularly. Where we identify actual or potential harm we take action to address this’’

The FCA identifies a vulnerable customer as someone who, owing to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to harm, particularly when a firm is not acting with appropriate levels of care.

It views vulnerability as a spectrum of risk. All customers are at risk of becoming vulnerable, but this risk is increased by having characteristics of vulnerability. These could be poor health, such as cognitive impairment, life events such as new caring responsibilities, low resilience to cope with financial or emotional shocks and low capability, such as poor literacy or numeracy skills.

We have various ways of monitoring whether we are meeting the needs of vulnerable customers which include assessing the quality of our interactions with customers, reviewing resolutions to complaints, analysing the root cause of every complaint and monitoring key indicators of harm for different customer types.

Covid-19 created adversity for many people. Although now greatly increased from peak Covid-19 restrictions the reduction in face-to-face social contact has made it harder to identify when someone may be going through a challenging time. So, what are the signs to look for?

Signs or triggers that may occur during a phone or video call or a meeting with a client include phrases such as:

· I can’t pay

· I’m having trouble paying

· I can’t read my policy renewal

· I can’t understand the letter you’ve sent me

Other signs of a vulnerability may include:

· Extreme moods

· Poor concentration or finding it hard to make a decision

· Feeling overwhelmed by things

· Being tearful or emotional

It is important to not only recognise these indicators but feel comfortable to engage with customers who may have found themselves in a vulnerable situation.

A range of practical tools can help. The Royal College of Psychiatrists and Money Advice Trust have developed three protocols, TEXAS, IDEA and CARERS, to help people manage conversations around vulnerability. The BLAKE protocol provides a framework for responding effectively to customer disclosures of suicidal thoughts or intentions.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach and these tools can be used in a tailored and flexible way to help us listen and engage with dignity, sensitivity, respect and compassion,” says Ben.

“Our goal is to make sure that everyone has the skills they need to support customers’ wellbeing. Whether that’s managing difficult conversations or signposting them towards external organisations that can provide extra support, we want to make sure all feel empowered, comfortable and confident when helping our customers in vulnerable circumstances.”

“We want to work together with intermediaries to help support customers – it’s about us all coming together to help each other,”

“At Whippet Vehicles, we listen to our customers’ feedback and use it to guide our future processes. This applies to our most vulnerable customers, too. By listening to their experiences, we can better understand their challenges and needs, and build products that offer support.”

Many people do not like to talk about their medical history and some may find it distressing, whether related to mental health or a physical health condition like cancer or a heart attack.

All individuals in customer facing roles have a key role to play in supporting clients through the process. ‘’At Whippet Vehicles we understand that some customers may feel anxious and others may struggle to understand things,” says Ben. “We have tried to make the qualification process as clear as possible and only ask about what we need to know.”

Customers talk to us about all sorts of things from seeking counselling for emotional issues, such as anxiety or depression or coping with bereavement or loss, to practical help with achieving a better work-life balance, understanding employment rights or managing household finances.

We offer range of communication tools to support customers, too. We can help the visually impaired by providing documentation in large print or on audio. The hard of hearing, deaf or speech impaired can communicate with us through the Relay UK app or use a textphone. British sign language users can use Convo Now UK to connect to an online professional interpreter via a mobile device or computer and call us when it suits them. We are very flexible.

We can also signpost customers to external help. Useful organisations that can provide free advice include Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Citizens Advice Bureau, Dementia UK, Mind, Money Advice Trust and Samaritans.

“We want to work together with intermediaries to help support customers – it’s about us all coming together to help each other,”

“At Whippet Vehicles, we listen to our customers’ feedback and use it to guide our future processes. This applies to our most vulnerable customers, too. By listening to their experiences, we can better understand their challenges and needs, and build products that offer support.”

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