The Cabinet Office Debt Management Vulnerability Toolkit is an invaluable best practice guide for frontline officers to be able to recognise customers at risk and provide the best possible support.
In February 2021 the FCA revealed that 27.7 million adults in the UK are in some sense financially vulnerable, and 14.2 million are considered to have low financial resilience. How many of these have buried their heads in the sand and not sought any help at all, and how do you identify them?
The Toolkit suggests that organisations should look to internal data sources and technology to enhance vulnerability identification and xantura’s OneView platform provides the infrastructure to create a single view of debt and vulnerability. Using data from across the council and their partners to create a holistic picture of resident situations, including financial resilience and support status, the authority can then identify vulnerable groups in debt and contact them offering advice and support.
This proactive intervention approach has resulted in positive outcomes for residents, who have been relieved of debt anxiety and saved from wider consequences, and for the council, who increase revenue through this collection strategy, and make savings by avoiding the outcomes that non-payment of debt can result in, such as homelessness, family breakdowns, and mental health issues.
For further insight please see Using data to support digital and financial inclusion – LGIU