Regulator finds gaps in support for vulnerable customers

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has identified significant gaps in how firms support vulnerable customers. It was found that 44% of vulnerable customers reported negative experiences, compared to 33% of non-vulnerable customers. Three-quarters (74%) of vulnerable customers who told their firm about their circumstances said that staff asked the right questions to understand their situation,…

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Vulnerability Registration Service and Illegal Money Lending Team agree partnership

The Vulnerability Registration Service (VRS), has announced that it partnered with the Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT), an organisation that investigates and prosecutes illegal money lenders, commonly known as loan sharks, while supporting those who have been affected by the crime. An estimated 310,000 people are in debt to illegal money lenders in the UK.…

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Two in five young people say money worries have increased because of the pandemic

More than two in five (41%) young people said that their money worries had increased because of the Covid-19 pandemic, new research YouGov, as part of a partnership between youth charity The Mix and global information services company Experian. Over a third (35%) of young people surveyed agreed that the impact of the pandemic on…

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Poverty levels expect to rise by 120,000

The impact of welcome changes to Universal Credit (UC) announced in the Budget will leave 1.3 million families better off than before the withdrawal of the £20 a week boost to UC last month and make 330,000 more families eligible for support, but 3.6 million families will remain worse off, according to new research the…

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Household figures indicate 11% rise in financial vulnerability

New insight from Lowell’s Vulnerability Index has indiacted a 11% rise in financial vulnerability across the pandemic (Q3 2019 to Q1 2021) The Financial Vulnerability Index, is a joint project between Lowell, one of the largest credit management services companies in Europe, and the Urban Institute, a leading U.S.-based research organization, uses unique Lowell data…

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3.2m young consumers consider themselves vulnerable

Younger consumers in the UK, aged 16 to 24 year olds, are among those most likely to now consider themselves vulnerable – 48%, compared to 34% of all consumers, according to research by the Vulnerability Registration Service (VRS), a not-for-profit company providing the UK’s first central vulnerability database. The FCA’s Financial Lives findings back in…

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