Vulnerable Customers

Refreshed September 2023 | CPD time: 1 Hour

Vulnerable customers may be significantly less able to represent their own interests, and more likely to suffer harm than the average consumer. The FCA's final guidance (FG21/01) on fair treatment for vulnerable customers indicated that 50% of the UK’s adult population currently exhibit one or more characteristics of being potentially vulnerable, and more recent surveys confirmed an increase in customers with low financial resilience, which is due to the increased cost of living and difficult economic conditions and is reflected in the substantial reliance on foodbanks by many people.

Over the course of this module, we will consider how vulnerable customers and financial planners interact in a way that demonstrates the best interest for the client. Different organisations use different terminology to describe the same individuals, so those who are vulnerable may be referred to as a ‘vulnerable customer’, ‘vulnerable consumer’ or ‘vulnerable client’. For the purposes of this module, we will use ‘vulnerable customer’ as that is the terminology mainly used by the FCA, except where there is a direct quote from a source that uses something different.