Evidence from Citizens Advice Bureaux suggests that this is a necessary provision, as illustrated by the case below where a provider failed to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act (or the DDA as it was then). The water utility has violated the legal requirements to make the necessary adjustments to its services. 14 Professional diligence is defined in regulation 2 of the CPRs as 'the standard of special skill and care which a trader can reasonably be expected to exercise towards consumers which is commensurate with: (a) fair market practice in the trader's field of activity, or (b) the general principle of good faith in the trader's field of activity".
15 The 'average consumer' refers to an imaginary concept developed by case law of the European Court of Justice. The client and his family were worried about the prospect of the debt and the implications going to court would have on his future credit record. Due to the success of the pilot, the project received funding to expand to other areas over a three-year period.
The Government is planning to develop this model and Westminster will be one of 16 areas piloting 'community budgets'. This has been attributed to the continued improvement in the efficiency of trained debt workers and the use of trained volunteers to support specialist money advisers. Integrating inclusive practices within mainstream delivery is essential to meeting the standards.
BS 18477 defines consumer vulnerability as "the condition in which a consumer is at greater risk of being mis-sold, exploited or disadvantaged in terms of accessing or using a service, or seeking redress".
SECTION THREE
The Social Fund agent insisted that the interview for the CCG be conducted over the phone, even though the client made it clear that she was deaf and needed a face-to-face interview. The client then visited Jobcentre Plus to ask for face-to-face assistance, explaining her difficulties in providing information over the phone. The Office told the CAB that they struggled to understand the client's accent and misinterpreted the information he gave them.
The consultant asked if the client should request the form or if it should be sent to him automatically. Second, physical distance may limit the client's sense of involvement in the process, which may mean offering less additional information. Her sister only made a few repayments before cutting off all contact and leaving the client with all the debt.
Although the bureau was satisfied that the bank was aware of the client's vulnerability, it continued to demand the full contractual amount. In the end, the client decided to file for bankruptcy, as it could no longer cope with the situation. The signs of trouble in this case were that the client had a good income but her debt was not going down.
However, due to pressure from the bank, the customer decided to declare bankruptcy, causing the bank to lose approximately £7,000. As a result, the client became completely confused and could not – at that time – become a substitute for her husband. The client's absence from the court hearing was a warning to the housing officer that the agency would need to take a proactive approach to assisting him.
The client lacked self-confidence and had difficulty expressing himself over the phone, and the counselor assessed that none of the above would have been possible without face-to-face contact. For example, the DWP has a policy which – in certain circumstances – requires staff to make an extra effort to contact a client if there is information in the client's record that they have a mental health problem. In Citizens' Advice, the principles are simple and start from 'normalising' the problem.
The counselor may ask if the client has any support needs, or a physical or mental health condition that they would like the service to be aware of. When formulating the question, care should be taken to avoid conveying negative connotations as this could discourage the client from disclosing their problems.
SECTION FOUR
From my side' – impartial from government and the financial services industry (FSI); supportive – to guide individuals to take positive steps towards improving their finances; preventive – to help people budget and plan for today and the future; universal – available to everyone and (in the medium term) free for the user; and sale-free – it cannot recommend a product from a specific provider or that the user varies or discards an existing product. The face-to-face channel reached the majority of people who were most vulnerable to the consequences of poor financial decision-making, and who were more economically disadvantaged. In contrast, the website reached a greater share of people who were least vulnerable to the consequences of poor financial decision-making, and who were less economically disadvantaged.'27
In 2009/10, the service advised 2.1 million individual clients and received 10.6 million visits to the self-help website www.adviceguide.org.uk. As a result of Citizens Advice's report, Do the Right Thing28, around 60 representatives from the advice and credit sectors now belong to the Best Practice for Financial Difficulties (AFD) Working Group, which is developing a definitive guide to best practice in helping people. avoiding, managing and overcoming periods of financial difficulty. The process of new access to Citizens Advice starts with an assessment – known as a bridging assessment – where assessors listen to the client's problem and find out what the client needs.
With the written permission of the client, both agencies share all information to provide families with a comprehensive service that meets all their needs. Coventry CAB says: “The pilot project has enabled the bureau to develop systems that can be replicated for other potential services. We continue to call on the government to improve the accessibility of its services, and Citizens Advice contributes to this.
In response to the case of a particularly vulnerable client, Taunton CAB worked with the local authority to develop a Vulnerable Persons Policy. Unfortunately, her housing benefit was limited to the shared room rate, which meant she could not afford to pay all of her rent and council tax. The CAB held a series of meetings with the local authority which were very receptive and the resulting vulnerable person policy is now integrated into the recovery of council tax arrears.
If a client is in arrears, the agency will be involved and if the agency identifies the client as a vulnerable person, the council will appoint a nominated tax officer on the client's account, who will work with the client and the CAB to agree an appropriate payment. plan. The local authority was proactive in implementing the policy and by December 2010 they had identified 60 users as vulnerable and referred them to the CAB for further assistance. The Principal Revenues Officer has agreed from the bailiff company that all its employees must be informed of the policy. If a bailiff believes someone is vulnerable, they are encouraged to report the matter to the local authority.
The information is used to assess whether and how the client's psychological problem affects his debt situation. Based on the assessment and evidence, the advisor or creditor can decide how best to meet the client's needs.
SECTION FIVE
Through examples and case studies, this report has shown that there are strong moral, legal and business arguments for organizations facing the challenge of providing inclusive services. For legal, moral and business reasons, all public organizations must accept responsibility to provide goods and services on equal and inclusive terms. Organizations should devise mechanisms to identify people who need extra help, or alternative methods, to access their services.
Providers must design integrated systems and train all staff to ensure that all users and potential users have equal access to their products or services.
Our aims
Our principles
