MorganAsh has launched a consumer vulnerability assessment tool, providing an objective ‘resilience rating’ similar to a credit score for evaluating consumer vulnerability.

The MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) is designed to help both mortgage advisers and firms meet the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) requirements for understanding and managing consumer vulnerability. The FCA’s ‘Guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers’ came into force in February 2021 and will be strengthened by the ‘A new Consumer Duty’ paper, which is currently out for consultation.

MARS provides a rating system based on data; it collates information from consumers and their advisers, to calculate a comprehensive ‘resilience rating’. This provides a simple, objective, and consistent way of managing consumer vulnerability.

has been embraced immediately by St James’ Place (SJP). SJP is also providing partners with access to MARS to help them identify and better support financial vulnerability among clients.

Instead of labelling people as vulnerable, MARS instead focuses on strengths – a person’s resilience. The system provides simple ratings which reflect every aspect of a person’s vulnerability or resilience, including health, wealth and life events.

Mortgage and financial advisers can input a client’s vulnerability information themselves. Alternatively, they can ask their client to complete an online questionnaire or, if the consumer is suspected to be vulnerable, can book an assessment of their client to be undertaken by a MorganAsh nurse.

Andrew Gething, managing director at MorganAsh, said: “Just as a credit score is used to simply communicate wealth, MARS is used to communicate health and resilience. By using MARS, advisers and firms can simply enter their client’s details, and the tool does the rest. This enables them to focus on what they do best – delivering the best advice.”

Keith Richards, chair of the Financial Vulnerability Task Force, added: “Given the often complex and technical nature of financial planning – which automatically places most people in a position of vulnerability because of knowledge and experience-based dependency – we must do what we can, at every opportunity, to demonstrate and be seen as a trusted ‘safe pair of hands’.

“The current regulatory focus on vulnerability provides a timely opportunity to improve how we can recognise and address vulnerable circumstances, whilst also demonstrating individual care and empathy. Good practice principles and the use of fintech, such as the MorganAsh MARS tool, can greatly improve our ability to assess, store and communicate vulnerability across and between organisations.”