Vulnerability policy

Formerly Vulnerable Adults Policy

Based on FCA Consumer Duty, FCA vulnerability guidance, the Care Act 2014, the Equality Act 2010, the Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR and the Debt Management Vulnerability Toolkit.

The Vulnerability Toolkit is appended to this policy and all Accommodation Concern staff, trustees, managers and volunteers will be made aware of how this policy and toolkit can be accessed.

Objectives

To provide an environment in which clients in vulnerable circumstances feel safe, listened to and valued.

To ensure trustees, staff and volunteers take responsibility for identifying and responding appropriately to vulnerability, safeguarding concerns and risks of foreseeable harm.

To support the fair treatment of clients in vulnerable circumstances and to seek to deliver outcomes that are as good as those for other clients.

To ensure staff make reasonable adjustments where required and tailor communication, support and service delivery to client need.

To ensure information is recorded, used and shared lawfully and only where necessary and proportionate.

To ensure all relevant staff and volunteers are appropriately recruited, trained, supervised and, where required, DBS checked.

To monitor outcomes, learning and complaints so that Accommodation Concern can identify any patterns of harm and improve practice.

To review and update this policy and practice annually, or sooner if regulation, guidance or service delivery changes.

This policy supports Accommodation Concern's wider Treating Clients Fairly and Consumer Duty framework and explains how the organisation identifies, records and responds to clients in vulnerable circumstances so that they receive appropriate support, understand the advice being given, and are not disadvantaged by the way the service is designed or delivered.

Mission

Accommodation Concern is committed to delivering the best possible service while protecting clients in vulnerable circumstances through effective policies, best practice, appropriate safeguards and a culture of care.

Trustees, staff and volunteers recognise and accept the responsibility to understand vulnerability, respond proportionately, and reduce the risk that Accommodation Concern's own actions, communications or processes could cause avoidable harm.

Definition

The FCA defines vulnerability as where, due to personal circumstances, a client is especially susceptible to harm, particularly when a firm is not acting with appropriate levels of care. Advice staff should think about vulnerability as a spectrum of risk. All clients are at risk of becoming vulnerable, and this risk is increased by characteristics of vulnerability linked to four key drivers.

HEALTH

LIFE EVENTS

RESILIENCE

CAPABILITY

Accommodation Concern will use the FCA definition above as its primary working definition for Consumer Duty purposes. Alongside this, the organisation recognises that safeguarding duties may also arise where an adult is aged 18 or over and has needs for care and support and is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect.

Accommodation Concern will seek to understand what types of harm or disadvantage clients may be vulnerable to, and how its own actions can increase or reduce that risk.

Consumer Duty principles

Accommodation Concern will act in good faith, avoid causing foreseeable harm, and support clients to pursue their financial and housing objectives. In doing so, the organisation will have regard to the FCA Consumer Duty outcomes and how they apply to advice and support services.

Products and services: services must be designed, targeted and delivered so they meet the needs of the clients they are intended to serve.

Price and value: Accommodation Concern provides free, independent advice and support. Clients should not experience detriment through hidden barriers, unnecessary delay, avoidable repeat contact or poor hand-offs.

Consumer understanding: communications must meet client information needs, use clear language and support informed decision-making.

Consumer support: clients must be able to access help through suitable channels and receive support that meets their needs throughout the client journey.

Identification and disclosure

Clients may be unwilling, embarrassed or unable to disclose vulnerability. Accommodation Concern will provide opportunities for clients to self-disclose and will operate multiple routes for clients to share information about their needs.

Staff will explain, from the outset where appropriate, that sharing relevant information may enable Accommodation Concern to provide additional support, tailor communication and make reasonable adjustments.

Staff will also be trained to recognise possible indicators of vulnerability, including:

• Individual factors - passing mentions of illness, disability or impairment; reference to contact with health or social care services; receipt of relevant benefits; or difficulty with reading, writing, digital access or language.
• Behavioural cues - sounding flustered, anxious, confused, distressed, overwhelmed or asking unrelated questions.
• Wider circumstances - unusual expenditure, arrears patterns, bereavement, relationship breakdown, domestic abuse, hospital admission, imprisonment, homelessness, refugee status or sudden loss of income.
• Organisational actions - where the client reports that Accommodation Concern or another organisation has caused difficulty through delays, unclear communication, repeated requests, inaccessible processes or poor support.

Disclosures of vulnerability

Accommodation Concern staff will use the TEXAS framework when a client discloses information about vulnerability or where it is otherwise identified as relevant.

• T Thank the client.
• E Explain how the information will be used and recorded.

X Gain explicit consent where consent is required, and record information in line with data protection requirements.

A Ask questions to understand how the situation affects the client and the advice or support needed, including use of the IDEA framework.

• S Signpost or refer to internal or external help where appropriate.

Accommodation Concern will seek to understand and respond to each client's needs through the IDEA framework:

• I Impact.
• D Duration of circumstances.
• E Experience.
• A Assistance needed.

Reasonable adjustments and support

Where appropriate, Accommodation Concern will make reasonable adjustments to reduce barriers for clients in vulnerable circumstances. This may include, depending on need and proportionality:

• offering longer or quieter appointments
• using telephone, face-to-face, email or written communication according to need
• using plain English and avoiding unnecessary jargon
• checking understanding and inviting the client to explain back key actions or advice
• permitting an advocate, support worker, friend or family member to assist, subject to confidentiality and consent
• arranging interpretation, translation or alternative formats where available
• agreeing a preferred method and time of contact
• making internal or external referrals where needs fall outside Accommodation Concern's remit

Good outcomes

For clients in vulnerable circumstances, good outcomes will usually include that the client is able to access the service, understands the advice or options explained, is supported to make informed decisions, and is not placed at unfair disadvantage because of their circumstances.

Accommodation Concern will pay particular attention to whether vulnerable clients experience avoidable drop-off, disengagement, misunderstanding, poor complaint handling, or poorer outcomes than other client groups.

Training and staff support

In addition to vulnerability training within relevant debt advice qualifications, all Accommodation Concern staff will be expected to complete additional training on supporting clients in vulnerable circumstances, such as Wiseradviser's Understanding and Supporting Clients in Vulnerable Circumstances e-learning course or equivalent.

Staff will have regular opportunities to share knowledge and learning, including team discussions, supervision, file review feedback and debriefing where work with vulnerable clients is emotionally demanding. Ongoing training relevant to role and risk will be discussed through supervision and annual appraisal.

Monitoring, oversight and reporting

Accommodation Concern will monitor the effectiveness of this policy and its Consumer Duty approach through appropriate management information and quality assurance. This may include case reviews, file checks, complaints, client feedback, outcome data, records of reasonable adjustments, safeguarding activity and learning from incidents.

Where monitoring identifies a risk of poor outcomes, repeated barriers, or a pattern affecting clients in vulnerable circumstances, this will be escalated to managers and, where appropriate, SMT and trustees so that action can be taken.

The Managing Director is responsible for overall oversight of this policy. Managers are responsible for implementation in day-to-day practice, supervision and escalation. Trustees will receive assurance through the organisation's normal governance and policy review arrangements.

Rights of clients in vulnerable circumstances

Clients in vulnerable circumstances have the right to:

• be made aware of this policy
• have concerns recognised and taken seriously
• receive fair, respectful and proportionate treatment
• be involved in decisions about support as appropriate
• receive information about outcomes, decisions and next steps where appropriate

Related policies

This policy should be read alongside the Treating Clients Fairly Policy, Safeguarding Policy, Equality and Diversity Policy, Data Protection Policy and Complaints Policy.

The policy will be reviewed annually or sooner where there is a material change in legislation, FCA expectations, guidance or organisational practice.

* See Vulnerability Toolkit - Debt Vulnerability Toolkits