Support services provider MorganAsh analysed data from its MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) between 2023 and 2025 and found that across different sectors, 99% of customers who started a vulnerability assessment completed it. The firm said this suggested that people were comfortable sharing details about their circumstances once they had already begun the process.
It also found that proactive vulnerability assessments had an average take-up rate of 65% when introduced at the onboarding stage, while the rate was 60% at the review stage.
Where firms relied on standalone requests for information separate from their normal interaction with a client, completion rates dropped to 3%.
MorganAsh said take-up rates depended on many factors, such as whether the relationship between a professional and the client was new or existing, the lead source and the nature of the business.
When firms embedded vulnerability assessments into an existing interaction during onboarding and review, take-up rates regularly reached 100%.
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Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, said: “Our data shows that objective, proactive assessment is absolutely key to identifying vulnerable customers, building the robust data required to improve service, deliver better outcomes – and report progress to the regulator. There have long been concerns about collecting this type of data – whether it is due to data protection concerns or fears that customers would be unwilling to disclose. On both counts, the combination of our latest data and fresh guidance from the CII proves that any fears or concerns are unfounded.
“In reality, customers are willing to disclose this information, providing that it is part of an engagement process and that they are fully aware of how it will be used to support better outcomes. By prioritising proactive engagement, it becomes less about assessment take-up rates and more about building trust in the process. There is tremendous value in having these important conversations, but it’s about having it at the right time and with the right technology, processes and infrastructure behind the firm to make sure that the data can be collected and used to support individuals as well as reported on properly.”
Earlier this month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) urged firms to be clearer about the support available to vulnerable clients once they had been identified.
