Ten steps - now released with MALG 'box'

Creditors work with the Royal College of Psychiatrists
to improve service to customers with mental health problems

Major creditors are working in partnership with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to improve the service offered to customers with mental health problems.

New guidance published today by the Royal College and Money Advice Trust sets out advice to help creditors offer the right assistance to these customers.

The measures highlighted in Lending, Debt Collection and Mental Health: ten steps for treating potentially vulnerable customers fairly will help train thousands of frontline staff working for banks and other creditors.

More than 2,000 employees from 50 bank and creditor organisations have already undertaken the training provided by the Royal College. The report encourages more organisations to follow their lead.

As part of the ten steps, the report recommends that creditors:

·       Build confidence amongst customers that they can disclose a mental health issue and that this information will be handled appropriately and sensitively

·       Develop and share a policy which explains how a customer’s disclosure of a mental health problem will be used

·       Provide mental health awareness training that reflects the lending or collections situations that staff undertake at work.

The report features case studies of good practice from major creditors that have adapted the way they treat these customers, including HSBC, Nationwide and Co-operative Bank.

Significantly, the report is endorsed by leaders from across the creditor, advice, and health sectors, including Anthony Browne (Chief Executive of the BBA), Stephen Sklaroff (Director General, the Finance and Leasing Association), Melanie Johnson (Chair, The UK Cards Association), Leigh Berkley (President, Credit Services Association), Paul Smee (Director General, Council of Mortgage Lenders), Professor Dame Sue Bailey (President, Royal College of Psychiatrists) and Joanna Elson (Chief Executive, Money Advice Trust).

Developing policies that appropriately handle mental issues can mean the difference between successful and unsuccessful recovery of a debt, the report says.

Anthony Browne, Chief Executive of the BBA, said:

“Offering the right support for customers experiencing mental health problems is vital, but not necessarily easy. Banks and creditors have to balance a respect for customers’ privacy with the importance of offering those who have mental health problems the right help.

“This report shows that creditors are already making great strides to give customers with mental health problems the appropriate support when it is needed.

“But more can always be done. That’s why the ten steps and other helpful advice written in this report by some of the world’s leading experts in mental health will be so valuable.”

Chris Fitch, Research Fellow at the Royal College and lead author of the report, said:

“Financial difficulties can make living with a mental health problem far, far harder.

“We therefore welcome those leading banks and creditors that have taken positive action to support customers with mental health problems.

“However, mental health is not yet a ‘job done’ – all creditors now need to take mental health into account, and ensure that best practice becomes part of everyday business.”

For more information please contact the BBA press office on 020 7216 8989, or Royal College of Psychiatrists' press office on 0203 701 2544.

Notes to editors

A.      Copies of the report can be downloaded at www.mhdebt.info

B.      The ‘ten steps’ that creditors are recommended to take are to ask themselves:

1.      When lending, are you really complying with law and regulation on mental capacity?

2.      Do you have a written policy on working with customers with mental health problems (as required by the implications of fully complying with the Data Protection Act 1998)?

3.      Does your mental health policy address dealing with more difficult situations including emotional distress, suicide threats, and other ‘learning events’?

4.      When a customer discloses a mental health problem, do your staff handle this effectively and legally?

5.      When a carer discloses a mental health problem, do your staff handle this effectively and legally?

6.      When asking more in-depth questions about mental health, are your specialist staff covering the key points?

7.      When working with customers with different mental health problems, are your staff taking these differences into account?

8.      Are you collecting medical evidence when you really need to?

9.      Are you using the medical evidence you collect?

10.     Do you use routine data and monitoring to improve performance, and prevent problems?

C.      One in four adults will experience a mental health problem in any given year, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre. Importantly, these adults will probably be customers of banking and creditor organisations – where creditor staff have a better understanding and appreciation of these customers’ health circumstances, they will be able to treat these customers fairly and sensitively.

D.      In 2010, 59 per cent of frontline staff told a survey by the Royal College of Psychiatrists that if they could take a customer’s mental health into account they would be more likely to recover a debt.

E.      The Royal College of Psychiatrists delivers programmes which make a difference to the everyday lives of people with mental health problems, and those working with them. Since 2006, it has run a research and intervention programme addressing the relationship between financial difficulties and mental health.

F.      The Money Advice Trust is a charity formed in 1991. Its vision is to help people across the UK to tackle their debts and manage their money wisely.

Chris Fitch
Research Fellow

Policy Unit
Royal College of Psychiatrists
21 Prescot Street
London
E1 8BB

t: 020 3701 2537

m: 07432 653502
e: cfitch@rcpsych.ac.uk

Report