Smart Money People has launched a new cross-industry working group focused on creating better communication for customers in vulnerable situations.

The group’s objective is to refine the questions financial services companies ask vulnerable people in order to better understand their needs, as well as developing recommendations for the industry on best practices for identifying and communicating with them effectively.

The financial services review site agrees that, despite the implementation of the FCA’s Consumer Duty over a year ago, a significant proportion of customers in vulnerable circumstances are still not being served effectively by the industry.

In a recent study of 2,000 consumers by Smart Money People, a proportion self-reported on criteria which would consider them to be vulnerable by the FCA. Four in five (81%) of these customers said they had seen no positive improvement in the way their financial services companies treat them in the past 12 months.

The working group is made up of members from building societies, credit unions and debt management companies, as well as Fair4All Finance, the not-for-profit financial inclusion organisation.

Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money People, said: “The FCA’s Consumer Duty is specifically designed to raise standards of care for financial services customers, with a particular focus on customers in a vulnerable position. However, our data shows these customers are not seeing the impact of these guidelines 12 months later.

“We have established the working group to help create best practice across the industry, and Smart Money People is well positioned to bring a wealth of insight to these sessions to help providers better serve the customers who most need our support.”