The financial services industry is publishing a consumer leaflet providing information on the support available to victims of financial abuse from their financial services provider.

Participating firms are making the leaflet available on their websites.

In October 2018, the industry committed to a new code of practice to support victims. This is part of the response to that commitment.

Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance, said: “Financial abuse can happen to anyone and whether you or a person you know is a victim, taking those first steps to seek help is incredibly brave. We know how important it is to support customers who might have experienced financial abuse and the industry is making significant progress to help combat it.

“Last year, UK Finance announced the Financial Abuse Code of Practice which provides guidance for banks and building societies so that customers can be confident they will be treated sympathetically and positively if they find themselves in these particularly difficult circumstances.

“This new leaflet provides information on what to do if it happens and the support they can get from their financial services firm.”

The leaflet can be accessed online or printed in branch if needed and if appropriate. This is alongside training for front line teams to help them support customers who may have experienced financial abuse, offering an empathetic response and signposting them to specialist support where appropriate.