Same customer, different bill: How sectors are tackling financial hardship together

A customer is never just a customer of your organisation. They are also a member of a bank, a resident to a local authority, and a customer for water and energy providers. While we often view vulnerability through our own specific lens, a customer in arrears with one provider is likely to be struggling with more than one debt. We are all looking at the same person, yet we often operate in isolation.

There is a common perception that the responsibility to identify and support vulnerable households sits solely with central and local government. Policy in Practice partners have demonstrated the powerful impact organisations can achieve by proactively supporting households in financial distress.

In this webinar, we explored how customers experiencing financial hardship are often interacting with multiple organisations at once, including local authorities, banks, water companies and energy providers. While each sector sees only part of the picture, the same individual may be struggling across several areas of their finances.

The discussion focused on how organisations can work more proactively to identify and support vulnerable households, moving beyond fragmented approaches and placing the customer at the centre of support.

Every organisation has different priorities, customers and objectives. Our approach is flexible and can be tailored to support the specific income maximisation, affordability, vulnerability or customer support goals that matter most to your organisation. Whether you’re looking to increase benefit take-up, improve engagement, identify vulnerability or strengthen referral pathways, we can adapt our tools and insights to meet your requirements.