PRESS RELEASE – 29th OCTOBER 2024
Ongoing concerns about the identification and treatment of vulnerable customers has led Advice Guru to develop a unique ‘Vulnerability Scorecard’ as part of its recently-launched online platform.
FCA data suggest 1 in 2 adults in the UK are potentially vulnerable but recent research suggests the industry is still struggling to help those most at risk
Advice Guru, the unique online learning and development platform, recently launched its proposition to advisers which includes a free Vulnerability Scorecard designed to help open up conversations about vulnerability with their clients.
Through its 2022 ‘Financial Lives’ survey, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) identified that almost half (47%) of UK adults displayed at least one of the four characteristics of vulnerability – Health, Life Events, Resilience and Capability. This has helped to focus a sharp spotlight on the subject, especially for advisers who are usually at the frontline in terms of spotting potential signs of vulnerability.
However, as recently as July 2024, a survey conducted by Smart Money People found that most (81%) of vulnerable customers felt that there had been no positive improvement in the way they had been treated by financial services companies in the UK since the implementation of Consumer Duty one year earlier.
Stuart Powell, founder and Managing Director of Advice Guru explained:
“When we launched our Advice Guru proposition in September this year, we knew we wanted to include support on the subject of vulnerability. It’s such an important topic, especially for those advising in the lending space – whether that’s advising customers looking to buy a home, remortgage, consolidate debt or access housing wealth for retirement purposes.
“To help with this, we developed our unique Vulnerability Scorecard which asks questions linked to the four characteristics of vulnerability highlighted by the FCA. It’s free to use, only takes a few minutes to complete and provides a graded response based on the answers given that can help to highlight areas of potential vulnerability that the consumer can then discuss with their adviser.”
The scorecard provides a personalised report that is emailed to the consumer. Advice Guru encourages consumers to share the results with their adviser in order to facilitate a more personalised and tailored advice outcome. Powell went on to explain:
“We know that Advisers can sometimes struggle to identify potential vulnerabilities in clients, especially when some clients are unaware of or even unwilling to disclose those vulnerabilities and so will not always be forthcoming with relevant information.
“Our Vulnerability Scorecard has been designed to help remove those barriers of ignorance and embarrassment, opening the door to better financial outcomes. The advisers we have demonstrated this to so far have been blown away by it and are keen to embed this as part of their advice process.”
Advisers and consumers can access the Vulnerability Scorecard free of charge via the Advice Guru website, www.adviceguru.co.uk.
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