Expert Intervention for Vulnerable Customers
The cost of living is rising, and many people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. People who have never needed support or guidance before are now needing that extra bit of assistance.
We partner with our clients (Local Authorities, Housing Associations, Enforcement Firms and other creditors) to provide proactive, tailored early intervention support for those who can’t pay.
What we do
We help vulnerable customers navigate complex and overwhelming systems to find proportionate, fair and sustainable debt resolution outcomes, based on their specific circumstances.
Our essential services include:
- financial guidance/relief
- income maximisation
- mental health support and crisis intervention
Our Clients
How we do it
We meet customers at the point of need. Combining leading data sources, sophisticated profiling / segmentation, and personal engagement, we identify those that can’t pay from those that won’t.
Our Welfare Officers personally engage, assess holistic circumstances, find optimum recovery / support pathways, engage advice partners, signpost and maintain contact.
We turn insight into action – not just awareness – so that individuals can actually access the benefits and other support they need. This improves end-to-end customer journey outcomes, not just tool usage.
Specialist Expertise
Stigma, fear of judgment, lack of awareness, complex systems and / or digital barriers can prevent people from seeking help.
We offer an intimate service, taking the time to hold customers’ hands through the whole process. We use empathy and actively listening, offering a welcoming space with clear communication. Early recognition = effective support. Early intervention = better outcomes, less stress, lower costs.
Our partnerships with the Housing Associations Charitable Trust (HACT), Charis Shop and Healthy Homes Solutions’ Vulnerability Initiative enables us to provide immediate additional assistance to customers facing hardship.
Making tools work
Providing access to tools like Benefits Calculators creates awareness of entitlement but this doesn’t always lead to action. Some customers need our additional support with the ‘last mile of the journey’ including:
- Completing complex application forms
- Contacting multiple external agencies
- Navigating social tariffs or benefit systems
Our partnership with Policy in Practice gives creditors of all types including major lenders access to their ‘Better off Calculator’ supplemented by our enhanced support to ensure that the most vulnerable customers can complete the whole end-to-end journey.
Why work with us?
Have a positive social impact by getting it right first time:
- Prevent hardship (which may result in homelessness / need for emergency accommodation), manage future liabilities, avoid cycles of debt, reduce stress / vulnerability and improve financial resilience.
- Minimise unrecoverable costs (eg summons), save time / resource on training & data costs, and focus your expert resource on appropriate cases to maximise income.
- Increase successful benefit uptake, reducing repeat contact.
- Build trust in your organisation as supportive and responsible.
Vulnerability & Debt Advice Skills Training
We deliver Vulnerability & Debt Advice Skills Training to frontline staff from Local Authorities, Housing and Utilities.
Attendees learn how to understand/identify vulnerability, prevent harm and properly support vulnerable customers, as well as challenge assumptions, spot barriers to support and help debt advisers with difficult conversations.
We also look at what to do when bankruptcy is the only option.
Our Awards and Accreditations
