Do you need extra support with your debts?

We were recently nominated for an industry award in recognition of the way we identify and support customers who need additional support in dealing with their debts. We’re proud of this achievement by our fantastic team. Today we want to tell you a little bit about why.

What is extra support?

Dealing with problem debt can be difficult for anyone. But we know that some people can find it particularly hard, either temporarily or in the long term. This could be because of their health, or because of a situation that they’re in.

There’s no specific definition of who needs extra support, but examples include:

• Addiction
• Dementia or brain injury
• Learning disability, or any condition that makes it difficult to communicate in certain ways
• Mental health problems.

It’s perfectly possible to be in any of those situations and not need any more support managing your debts than anyone else does. But if there are things we can do to make it easier for you, then we want to help. Depending on your circumstances, this could include:

• changing the way we communicate with you
• with your permission, adding a third party to your account who has the authority to speak on your behalf
• with your permission, letting your lenders know that you’re finding it especially difficult to handle your debts.

We’ve made it a priority to ensure that all our teams know how to spot someone who might need extra support. We also strive to tailor our service appropriately to those customers. We’re glad we’ve been recognised by the industry for this work. But much more importantly, we’re proud of the difference it makes to our customers. Here’s some of the feedback we’ve had from customers who receive extra support (some of these have been edited for length and clarity):

Let us know if you need more support

That last comment makes a really important point. Our team are great at identifying signs that you might need extra support. But we know not everyone finds it easy to talk about issues like addiction and mental health, particularly to someone you don’t know. So if there’s something going on that you haven’t told us about, why not let us know the next time you speak to one of our team? The more we know about what’s going on in your life, the better we can help you deal with your debts.

Just need someone to talk to? The Samaritans are there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And you can find support with many of the issues we’ve discussed in this post from the mental health charity Mind.