How can the sector support vulnerable customers facing cancer?

Each year, around 392,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer. That’s one person diagnosed every 90 seconds.

According to NICE’s The Changing Face of Vulnerability report (2024), fewer than 17% of UK consumers self-identified as vulnerable. Yet when assessed against the FCA’s four drivers of vulnerability (health, life events, resilience and capability), as many as 67% could potentially be vulnerable. This includes people with a cancer diagnosis, which is classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010, giving people important rights.

While providers of social housing have a responsibility to treat all customers decently and fairly, it is particularly important that they are aware of their duties to vulnerable consumers.

The Regulator of Social Housing expects providers to understand and meet the diverse needs of tenants, including those arising from protected characteristics, language barriers and additional support needs.

In addition, any housing provider that offers financial advice or financial services is regulated by the FCA, which also provides clear guidance on the treatment of vulnerable customers.

“While providers of social housing have a responsibility to treat all customers decently and fairly, it is particularly important that they are aware of their duties to vulnerable consumers”

With an ever-increasing number of people being diagnosed with cancer, it’s vital that vulnerable customers are assessed individually, so that they receive appropriate support for their circumstances, whether that relates to physical health issues or financial needs.

In the Balance, a report by Macmillan, the cancer charity, reveals that only 11% of people living with cancer have told their bank about their diagnosis. Of that 11%, 25% said they still have to explain the details repeatedly to different people. This is something we have also heard from our own Cancer Coach participants, who have had to explain their situation multiple times in the same organisation, because no one knows how to help them.

People are not comfortable discussing cancer or cancer treatments with customer service operatives who have little awareness or understanding of the complexity of their individual circumstances.

Vulnerable customers with cancer should not be penalised for their illness with poor service; neither should they be faced with inflexible policies that fail to take into account their changing needs.

There is clearly a widespread lack of understanding of cancer side-effects, symptoms and the impact it has on day-to-day living. The cumulative effect this has on a person’s emotional well-being and recovery is incalculable.

Customer service staff are also being failed by a lack of cancer-specific training. They need to feel confident when speaking to people affected by cancer. Only by equipping them with the right knowledge, skills and tools will they be able to provide a better service and be more effective in dealing with customers. This means customers will be happy and more likely to return. This also makes the employee feel better.

When employers show they are striving to better understand and support people living with and beyond cancer, this not only improves the relationship with customers, but also internally with their staff.

“Vulnerable customers with cancer should not be penalised for their illness with poor service; neither should they be faced with inflexible policies that fail to take into account their changing needs”

The National House Building Council (NHBC) identified a need for specialist training when frontline staff reported having difficulty talking to customers with cancer. Their own data revealed that, increasingly, health issues such as cancer were affecting their customers. Frontline colleagues lacked the knowledge to support these customers.

The solution? They are now using an effective, bespoke training framework created by Cancer Support UK, featuring NHBC-specific scenarios, as well as information about cancer, treatment options, side-effects and skills such as active listening. They have also made a vulnerable-customer e-learning module available to all employees.

The FCA expects organisations to be able to identify possible indicators of consumer vulnerability at the point of sale and during the servicing of financial products. It stresses that staff should have the right skills to meet those needs. A failure to have due regard for the vulnerability of customers can result in significant regulatory consequences for organisations.

The social housing sector needs to ensure that staff have sufficient knowledge about cancer and are able to refer customers on to specialised support as appropriate. More flexible policies need to be developed to help people affected by cancer manage mortgage repayments and other credit commitments.

Only with appropriate specialist cancer training can customer service teams ensure fair treatment and achieve positive outcomes for both the customer and their organisation.

Mark Guymer, chief executive, Cancer Support UK