Signposting can take many forms, such as a partnership approach, where contact information is provided for popular charities like Age UK.
MorganAsh said in many instances companies can signpost without liaising with the charity and services can be reactive or need the client to move ahead.
The vulnerability specialist said signposting can have a poor chance of success, especially for those suffering from a combination of issues and does not go far enough to support those in severe distress.
Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, said: “From our work with ill and vulnerable consumers, we have identified that many will often state one issue to hide an underlying one, while signposting itself fails to support those with multiple issues or where the consumer is expected to proactively make contact. As a result, it has a poor chance of success and the potential to increase harm for the consumer.”
He added: “Consumer Duty requires firms to demonstrate at least annually that the vulnerable are experiencing no worse outcomes than the resilient. We know from recent surveys that vulnerable consumers do experience worse outcomes, so the emphasis is on firms to prove this is not the case, or more likely, to identify these vulnerable cohorts and have a plan in place to rectify this.
“While signposting has found favour as a zero cost option – especially if firms can digitise this approach – it may not be effective and could result in more harm. That’s especially true if it turns out that the signposted organisation is not suitable or is inaccessible to the client.”
The MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) offers multiple options to assess consumers and provides nurse support service to assist advisers in offering to help highly vulnerable clients and has specialist to then refer on to such as addiction clinics and translation services.
