A survey by three leading professional bodies has revealed that over 1 in 3 finance professionals considered themselves to be vulnerable during the past 12 months.

Financial professionals also found themselves dealing with a rise in vulnerable customers struggling to cope with the pandemic changes.

The survey was carried out by the umbrella Chartered Body Alliance (CBA) between 4 August and 8 September covering 1,637 respondents. The Chartered Body includes the CII, the CISI and the Chartered Banker Institute.

The CBA is to launch an Alliance Toolkit and a series of events in 2022 with round tables for wellbeing in member firms to open up a debate on issues highlighted by the survey.

CISI CEO Simon Culhane, Chartered FCSI said that while many members were addressing their duties and responsibilities it was clear that there were shortfalls in some areas.

He said: “The fact that 33% of respondents working in financial services also considered themselves vulnerable within the past 12 months has emphasised the importance of looking after our own member practitioners. We will be examining how we can expand the CISI mental health portal in particular to further support financial services professionals in this respect.”

Financial professionals surveyed said the rise in vulnerable customer issues was harder to deal with as they themselves felt vulnerable.

Over the past 12 months, the majority of survey respondents (61%) said that they had either “directly or indirectly” supported a customer in vulnerable circumstances.

A higher percentage, 75%, said they had discussed issues facing such customers with their teams, either frequently or on occasion.

Many said they had seen examples of bad practice towards customers in vulnerable circumstances. The CBA asked 356 respondents to the survey for anonymous examples of this and these included:

• elderly customers being directed to online complaint forms
• pushy salespeople
• misuse and lack of knowledge of Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection orders
• overuse of automation and AI and a lack of availability of telephone contact
• a lack of empathy for bereaved customers
• poor response to instances of scamming and fraud 
• lack of sensitivity to customers’ physical disabilities. 

When asked about their firms’ policies and procedures on customers in vulnerable circumstances, almost four fifths (80%) said that their organisation had policies and procedures in place, while just over 10% did not. 

Some 58% had received formal, structured training on the fair treatment of customers in vulnerable circumstances although of those who had undergone training, only half (51%) had received it in the six months prior to the survey.

Two-thirds (65%) of respondents said their organisation had a formal definition of what it considered to be a customer in vulnerable circumstances, with just over half (55%) believing that their firm’s definition aligned closely with the FCA’s. 

In terms of culture, almost 80% said that their employer had implemented or attempted to implement a work environment that embeds fair treatment of vulnerable customers; under 10% had not. 

Sian Fisher, CEO of the Chartered Insurance Institute, said: "If we think we are going to go through our whole lives avoiding a time when we fit the definition of ‘vulnerable’, we are kidding ourselves. 

“Financial circumstances, ill health, disability and life events all mean that we are almost certain to go through a period in our lives when we are vulnerable. This research underlines how important it is for us all to have an inclusive approach to all customers, and not treat vulnerability as an ‘add on’ that only applies to a minority.”

Simon Thompson, Chartered Banker Institute chief executive said: “As these findings reveal, more needs to be done, and we encourage all employers to work with us to step up the training required, whilst also considering their employees’ wellbeing needs.”