Utility Week

30 | MARCH 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Customers Analysis Consumer vulnerability: the long game The problem of customers in vulnerable circumstances will be with us long after the pandemic is brought under control. Adam John talked to fi ve industry experts about how utitilities should tackle the issue in the long term. A er a year that has seen a signi cant in ux of customers nding them- selves in increasingly di cult nan- cial circumstances, the debate surrounding consumer vulnerability in the utilities sector has reached a new intensity. Following the implementation of swi measures to protect the most vulnerable at the start of the pan- demic, the focus is now on what longer-term strategies might look like. Utility Week spoke to ve experts and asked what they wanted to see from the sec- tor as a whole to better tackle the issue of vulnerability. Matthew Vickers, chief executive, Energy Ombudsman Consumer vulnerability is all about the bigger picture, be that within individual organisations or wider society, according to Matthew Vickers. The Ombudsman chief wants companies to join up their approaches to vulnerability across their whole operating model, ensur- ing sta€ are given the right leadership and support to allow them to better support vul- nerable customers. "It's about getting their wider business to understand some of the challenges, and the importance of, customer service," he says. "One of the key things we all talk about is being able to spot vulnerability and being able to get people to open up, to trust you so that you can help with that. That's quite a challenge at the best of times because it needs a really high level of customer service, empathy and skill. It's even more so at the moment, as we've talked before about the pressures of Covid falling on workforces as much as they do on customers." He further points to the need for better signposting when companies have reached the limit of what they can o€ er. "It's really important that, as far as we can, we join up the resources and the skills and capabilities that are there in the system better. That does involve looking cross-utility and what can be done cross-sector. Also, looking at what can be done across the pri- vate and public sectors. We should remem- ber it's the same challenges around things like council tax bills and broadband. If we are starting from the person rather than the sector, the more that we can look at provid- ing that support on a whole person level the‰better." Additionally, Vickers believes that if it is a question of customers not having enough money to pay bills a er they are o€ ered as much help as is reasonably expected from their energy retailer, there is an opportunity for companies to link a€ ordability issues with carbon reduction. "One of the other ways that you can look at a€ ordability is to reduce usage, which should have a bene t from a carbon point of view because if you can cut energy usage, that's great. That gets you into energy e - ciency, recognising that these problems are linked. If you can tackle the e ciency prob- lem through better, through more e cient "It's really important that, as far as we can, we join up the resources and the skills and capabilities that are there in the system better. That does involve looking cross-utility and what can be done cross-sector." Matthew Vickers, chief executive, Energy Ombudsman

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