FCA Vulnerability Review Response

Recorded live from the London launch event of the FCA’s much-anticipated review of how financial service firms are treating customers in vulnerable circumstances, Chris Fitch, Vulnerability Lead at the Money Advice Trust talks to Charlotte Clark, Director of Cross-Cutting Policy and Strategy at the FCA. In this special episode of our Vulnerability Matters Podcast learn about what the review’s findings mean for firms, consumers, and the regulator too, and whether consumer vulnerability can really sit alongside wider economic growth objectives.

Listen to the full episode on SoundCloud, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Want to hear more episodes of Vulnerability Matters? Subscribe to our Vulnerability Matters newsletter to be notified of newly available podcasts and webinar recordings.

We are pleased to have partnered with Collaboration Network for our event; Vulnerability 2025 Conference: Responding to the FCA Review.

At the event there was discussions on embedding inclusion and role relevant training across organisations to defining and measuring outcomes after the launch of the FCA Vulnerability Review.

One of the key outtakes from the day was that following the FCA’s Vulnerability Review, with the examples of best practice and areas for improvement in hand, this is now very much ‘over to you’ in terms of taking appropriate actions to improve outcomes for all vulnerable customers.

Watch this space for more updates on future events!

​Health, disability, unemployment, bereavement, domestic violence and addiction can all contribute to making someone more vulnerable.

Customers in vulnerable circumstances are especially susceptible to detriment. Your staff need to know how to identify and work with these customers in a way that is both consistent and fair. Get in touch to learn more about our ‘Supporting Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances’ training course and how it could help your firm’s customer facing staff.

Our guide provides the history of the FCA Vulnerability review

March 2025

We have recently updated our vulnerable customer e-learning on to a new platform. You can host this insightful e-learning directly on your own LMS or purchase individual licences from us.

Contact us to find out more, or use the link below to book in a walkthrough of this e-learning course.

At this free 60-minute webinar, we were joined by SMEs from Elephants Don’t Forget and Bovill Newgate to unpack the details of the review and identify the pinch points and challenges your firm will have to prioritise and overcome to meet the regulator’s exacting standards of support for vulnerable customers. This is still available to watch. Simply click below and follow in the instructions

Protecting customers in vulnerable situations remains a key priority for firms and regulators, with the FCA’s ongoing review into how firms are supporting these customers in line with their 2021 commitment, and the findings now released.

The review looks at firms’ understanding of consumer needs, the skills and capability of staff, product and service design, communications and customer service, and whether these support fair treatment and good outcomes for customers in vulnerable circumstances.

Our webinar on 14th March , co-chaired by UK Finance’s Fiona Turner and Chris Fitch of the Money Advice Trust, where we discussed our initial reactions and the potential implications for firms and customers is still available to watch. Simply click below and follow in the instructions

There is a Golden Thread to addressing Consumer Vulnerability. It involves asking three questions:
1. Vulnerable to what? | 2. Supported how? | 3. If not us, who? Read more about how to make sure all your staff, relative to their role, should be able to answer these questions.

Recorded live from the London launch event of the FCA’s much-anticipated review of how financial service firms are treating customers in vulnerable circumstances, Chris Fitch, Vulnerability Lead at the Money Advice Trust talks to Charlotte Clark, Director of Cross-Cutting Policy and Strategy at the FCA. In this special episode of our Vulnerability Matters Podcast learn about what the review’s findings mean for firms, consumers, and the regulator too, and whether consumer vulnerability can really sit alongside wider economic growth objectives.

Listen to the full episode on SoundCloud, or wherever you get your podcasts.

At this free 60-minute webinar, we were joined by SMEs from Elephants Don’t Forget and Bovill Newgate to unpack the details of the review and identify the pinch points and challenges your firm will have to prioritise and overcome to meet the regulator’s exacting standards of support for vulnerable customers. This is still available to watch. Simply click below and follow in the instructions

There is a Golden Thread to addressing Consumer Vulnerability. It involves asking three questions:
1. Vulnerable to what? | 2. Supported how? | 3. If not us, who? Read more about how to make sure all your staff, relative to their role, should be able to answer these questions.

Read five new things that you may have missed that the FCA have said about vulnerability. Taken from our exclusive podcast with the FCA’s Charlotte Clark, Director of Cross-Cutting Policy and Strategy.

This guide provides a history of the FCA and vulnerability. All the way from the first-ever FCA definition of vulnerability  to their 2025 Vulnerability Review.

Are you looking to improve how your organisation supports its customers? Our guide provides the essential tools and insights needed to deliver effective assistance.

Inside the guide you will find:

• Guidance on effective support: Practical strategies for offering meaningful help to your customers
• How to implement these changes: Suggested approach to make these changes within your organisation
• Further Support: Where you can access further support and guidance

​Health, disability, unemployment, bereavement, domestic violence and addiction can all contribute to making someone more vulnerable.

Customers in vulnerable circumstances are especially susceptible to detriment. Your staff need to know how to identify and work with these customers in a way that is both consistent and fair. Get in touch to learn more about our ‘Supporting Customers in Vulnerable Circumstances’ training course and how it could help your firm’s customer facing staff.

The Financial Conduct Authority expects you to be able to evidence that your outcomes for vulnerable customers are as good as those of other customers. You need to show how good outcomes result from all of the efforts and activities that are in place, and in particular that you are preventing avoidable harms.

So, what is a ‘good outcome’ and how do we decide which outcomes we need to monitor? Why do they matter so much when it comes to vulnerability? And, how do firms go about doing all of this?

If you are responsible for ensuring that a product, service or process is delivering good customer outcomes then our training session can help.

Of increasing importance in the conversations about vulnerability – inclusive design is the development of buildings, products, services, or processes that are accessible to all people, regardless of age, disability, or other factors.

Firms needs to be taking into account vulnerability throughout their design process, and mitigating any potential for harm.

This course will help you, and your teams, understand what inclusive design is and how you can use it when designing products and services.

Inclusive Design – Register Your Interest!

We’re teaming up with Nile to deliver a brand-new Inclusive Design course – helping you create services that truly work for all customers.

Want to be the first to know when more details are available? Register your interest today!

We have recently updated our vulnerable customer e-learning on to a new platform. You can host this insightful e-learning directly on your own LMS or purchase individual licences from us.

Contact us to find out more, or use the link below to book in a walkthrough of this e-learning course.