Financial services
Banks, insurers, lenders, debt collection firms, and pension providers all face the same challenge: FG21/1 and Consumer Duty have raised the bar on what regulators expect, but most firms are still working out what that means in practice for vulnerable customers.
The FCA is clear that firms must identify foreseeable harm, act to prevent it, and evidence that their products and services deliver good outcomes for all customers, including those in vulnerable circumstances. That is a significant shift from where most firms started. It is no longer enough to have a vulnerability policy or even standalone outputs. What matters is whether they change outcomes in your vulnerable customer journeys.
We help financial services firms understand where risk sits in their vulnerable customer journeys, redesign the moments that matter most, and build the governance, capability, and evidence to demonstrate good vulnerable customer outcomes. Our Vulnerability Reviews, Inclusive Design sprints, and Vulnerable Customer Strategy work are shaped by how financial services operate: conduct risk, board assurance, extensive sources of solicited and unsolicited insights and the reality of frontline delivery.
If you want to strengthen your Consumer Duty position, improve outcomes for vulnerable customers, and build a strategy you can act on, let’s talk about where you are.
Utilities
Energy and water companies operate under some of the most direct vulnerability obligations in any regulated sector. Ofgem’s Consumer Vulnerability Strategy, Priority Services Register requirements, and Ofwat’s expectations on support for customers in vulnerable circumstances all demand that services are designed to reach people before harm materialises, – not after.
The challenge is that most firms have built vulnerability responses around identification and referral. A customer is flagged, a note is added, and the assumption is that the right support follows. In practice, it often does not. The flag does not always trigger a different journey, a different communication, or faster access to available help.
If vulnerability and affordability are pulling in different directions, let’s talk about bringing them together so your customers, colleagues, and commercial performance all benefit.
Housing
Housing associations and registered providers are increasingly expected to evidence how they identify and support tenants in vulnerable circumstances. The Social Housing Regulation Act and Tenant Satisfaction Measures have raised expectations around service quality, transparency, and outcomes for the people who rely on these services most.
We bring a proven methodology of understanding where vulnerability creates risk across the tenant journey and working with organisations to redesign those moments. If you are navigating these requirements and want an experienced perspective on how to turn compliance into better outcomes for tenants and teams, let’s talk.
Other regulatory sectors
Vulnerability is not confined to financial services, utilities, and housing. Any organisation that serves customers who may be in vulnerable circumstances faces similar questions: how do you identify where harm concentrates, how do you design services that work for the people who need them most, and how do you evidence that it’s working?
We have worked with organisations across telecoms, public services, and third-sector bodies where inclusive service design and vulnerable customer journey mapping apply. If your sector is not listed here but the challenge sounds familiar, start a conversation.
Your questions answered
Some of the practical points organisations often ask us about.
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Our methodology has been developed and tested across financial services, utilities, and housing. The principles of Inclusive Design remain the same across sectors: listening to vulnerable customers, working with the colleagues who serve them and enable the journey, and using data to close the gap between intent and experience. What changes are the regulatory context, customer journeys, and language. We adapt to your sector, not the other way around.
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Training builds awareness but rarely changes outcomes on its own. Our approach works directly with vulnerable customers and your colleagues to redesign how services are delivered. Rather than teaching people what vulnerability is, we help your organisation build the capability, processes and insight to respond to it in practice.
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Most engagements fall between £20,000 and £80,000 depending on scope and duration. We scope every piece of work individually, so the investment reflects what you need. Let’s talk about where you are.
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Many of our engagements deliver measurable change within three to six months. A Vulnerability Review can surface actionable insight within weeks. An Inclusive Design sprint typically runs over two to four months and delivers tested, evidenced changes ready for implementation. The timeline depends on how many journeys are in scope and how quickly your teams can engage. We also provide a Return on Investment calculator to help you track impacts and justify Inclusive Design as a way of working
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No. We work with organisations across the UK and Ireland. Most of our work is delivered through a blend of on-site and remote sessions. For an Inclusive Design sprint, we find it’s beneficial to run the first workshop face-to-face, then continue remotely. We flex to what works for your teams and your customers.