Consumer Duty: 60% of GB adults show at least one characteristic that makes them potentially vulnerable customers
The latest data from our Consumer Duty Index reveals that despite the proportion of potentially vulnerable customers dropping from 63% in April 2024 to 60% in April 2025, more customers than not remain potentially vulnerable.
According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a vulnerable customer is an individual who is especially at risk of harm if providers of financial services do not provide the necessary level of support. Our latest research reinforces the importance of safeguarding potentially vulnerable customers by ensuring financial service providers meet their regulatory obligations and maintain consumer trust. This includes making reasonable adjustments to support customers in assessing and managing their financial products - just 37% of potentially vulnerable customers currently agree that financial products and services are accessible to everyone.
Among the four key drivers of vulnerability identified by the FCA our research finds that low financial resilience remains the most prevalent, despite a drop from 47% this time last year to 43% as of April. This indicates that although the economic shock of previous years may be declining, four out of ten adults continue to struggle with limited capacity to absorb economic shocks, manage debt effectively, or lack adequate support systems. Nearly half (49%) in this financially vulnerable group currently lack sufficient savings to weather unexpected financial crises.
A quarter (24%) of GB adults currently report a health condition that affects their ability to carry out everyday tasks. Yet, 56% of these individuals say they have never been asked by their financial provider if they need reasonable adjustments to access services - making them the least likely group to be proactively supported.
Two in ten (22%) GB adults are going through a serious life event and a similar proportion (19%) lack the financial knowledge or confidence to manage their financial matters, including having poor literacy, numeracy, or digital skills – remaining consistent with previous waves.
With a quarter (25%) of the GB adult population stating they feel uncomfortable asking for reasonable adjustments from financial service providers (34% among potentially vulnerable customers), the onus appears to be on the providers themselves to proactively offer such adjustments rather than wait for customers to ask.
However, just 17% of potentially vulnerable customers have been asked by a financial provider if they need reasonable adjustments to better access their services, with around a quarter (25%) who do not believe financial service providers are genuinely interested in them and their personal needs.
Our Consumer Duty Index (CDI) is a weighted score to reflect the attributes that will have the greatest impact on customer advocacy within financial services. The CDI score provides an indication on whether customers receive good outcomes from their financial services provider. At 55% the score among potentially vulnerable customers is ten percentage points lower than it is for non-vulnerable customers. The score drops further to 53% among those with low financial resilience, highlighting the need to engage more with customers who are potentially vulnerable.
To explore these issues further, we invite you to join our webinar on 19th June where we will explore in more detail how well the Financial Services industry is responding to Consumer Duty. Our Consumer Duty Index (CDI) was launched in 2024, allowing us to review how well the overall industry, sub-sectors and specific brands are performing over the longer term when it comes to Consumer Duty. Four full waves of this study have been completed, interviewing over 32,000 GB consumers of financial services products including 20,256 vulnerable customers.
All figures are from YouGov Plc. Fieldwork undertaken quarterly with the most recent wave between 15th - 28th April 2025 to 8210 adults. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).