The challenge
A major UK utility provider needed a better way to identify and support vulnerable customers. With regulatory pressure increasing, our client wanted to focus collections on those able to pay, while offering support to genuine hardship cases.
The main challenges were:
- A large, complex dataset of vulnerable accounts
- Difficulty separating hardship from disengagement
- Balancing compliance, welfare, and cash collection objectives
The solution
Using our Financial Vulnerability Scoring (FVS) model, we combined bureau, demographic, and internal data to give a full view of each customer’s circumstances.
Customers were scored on a 1–100 scale and segmented into low, medium, high, or specialist vulnerability categories. This enabled tailored engagement strategies, from focused collections to empathetic outreach and specialist referrals.
We also supported our clients in embedding a clear, repeatable process for fair and compliant decision-making across teams.
The results
- 50,000+ customers segmented, with one-third showing little or no financial vulnerability
- £56 million in debt identified from 15,000+ customers with strong ability to pay
- Clear identification of specialist cases for appropriate handling
Our client achieved greater fairness, efficiency, and compliance, improving both collections performance and customer trust through data-driven segmentation.