Vulnerable customers – a proactive approach in identification and support

Hi everyone and welcome to our session today. The vulnerable customers – a proactive approach and identification and support. I'm Fiona Hanrahan and I'm with Shelley Read today and we are both Senior Technical Managers at Royal London. As are sure many of you on the call today, it's not going to be possible to take any questions actually during the session, but if you have any then please use the online facility. And Shelley or I will get back to you as soon as we can. And if you are listening live, at the end of the session, you will receive a link to a short quiz, which will then enable you to download your CPD certificate within 24 hours, that might not be immediate.

So, our objectives today are as follows. Have a better understanding of why it's important to identify a vulnerable customer. Know how to recognise a vulnerable customer. Be more aware of how you can support the vulnerable customer and know the support that providers can offer.

So, thinking about our agenda a bit further, then we'll go over the FCA definition of a vulnerable customer, and we'll have a think about why it's important you actually understand vulnerable customers. We'll talk about how to identify a vulnerable customer and how you can support vulnerable customers, both from a protection point of view and a pensions point of view.

So let's get started then with that definition of a vulnerable client or customer. And you know, I'd say it's not as obvious as you think. As I'm sure you know, the FCA published its guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers in February 2021, and that was called FG 21 / 1, if you want to go and look it up. They then highlighted in their financial guidance on consumer duty what their expectations are in terms of monitoring the outcomes for consumers with characteristics of vulnerability as well as protected characteristics.

So, as a quick reminder of how the FCA defined a vulnerable customer, a vulnerable customer is someone who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to harm, particularly when a firm is not acting with appropriate levels of care. The FCA's four drivers of vulnerability make it easy to recognise the breadth of possible vulnerabilities, many of which we might recognise as having experienced ourselves. And when it comes down to it, really, anyone can be vulnerable at any time.

So, it's really important to note that clients can be vulnerable at any time in their life, and not just when they become elderly. Someone could be vulnerable in their 20s or 30s due to many factors, which we'll look at a little bit closer over the course of this webinar. It's also important to appreciate that vulnerability can be temporary, perhaps due to a life event or perhaps due to some sort of disability. And this vulnerability and the nature of that vulnerability can change over time. For example, a widow may be vulnerable following the premature death of their spouse, but over time become less vulnerable. But then a further life event such as another bereavement, or maybe even redundancy, could cause that customer to become or be classed as vulnerable again.

We will, during the course of this webinar, look more closely at aspects like this, but I hope you already can see you need to be vigilant to identify and then adapt your support for these types of customers. So, you should think about vulnerability as a spectrum of risk. All customers are at risk of becoming vulnerable, and this risk is increased by characteristics of vulnerability related to those four key drivers that I mentioned from the FCA earlier.
So when it comes to health then, we're talking about health conditions or illnesses that affect someone's ability to potentially carry out day to day tasks. When it comes to life events, we're thinking about things like bereavement, a job loss, or a relationship breakdown. By resilience, we mean a potential ability to withstand financial or emotional shocks. And then by capability, we're thinking about someone potentially with low knowledge of financial matters or low confidence in managing money. That would be financial capability. Or low capability and other relevant areas such as literacy or digital skills, which could affect how you interact with that particular client.

Of course, identifying vulnerability can be difficult. Not all clients displaying these characteristics will be vulnerable or may not become so immediately. So, firms will need to respond as the client moves through that spectrum of vulnerability.

So, thinking about each of these four in turn, then we'll start with health or disability. And here we're thinking about potential physical disabilities severe or long-term illness hearing or visual impairments which could affect simply how you interact with that client. There’re mental health challenges, which we know is particularly prevalent at the moment, or there could be disabilities that result in low mental capacity or cognitive issues.

Thinking about further life events. We could have caring responsibilities, so that could be the birth of a child, or it could be the need to look after elderly relatives, as you get older yourself. There could be a bereavement, which we've mentioned. There could be income shocks such as the redundancy, the state outwards, you know, loss of a job or the inability to work through illness. There could be separation or divorce, which is obviously a massive life event, or there could be some sort of standard or, sorry, non-standard requirement that affects how you deal with the clients or some something like an ex-offender, care leaver or giver or a refugee.

And when it comes to resilience, we're talking about someone potentially with low or inconsistent income, someone that could be in debt. They could have certainly low savings or just a lack of support from family or friends. And when we're talking about emotional resilience, that could lead to making impulsive financial decisions.

And finally, by capability we mean potentially learning difficulties. Poor literacy and numeracy skills, a lack of digital skill, which, again, could impact how you interact with the client or simply the low knowledge or confidence in managing financial matters. Now I'm going to pass over to Shelley, who's going to take you through the next section. Thanks, Shelly.

Thanks, Fiona. So why is it important that you understand vulnerable clients? Well, these clients may be unable to make clear decisions and to represent their own best interests. And it can affect the way they engage with you as well as your services and their providers. So, let's have a look then on the next screen, about understanding vulnerable clients.

So, the FCA expects all of your clients, as you would expect to be treated fairly, whether they have vulnerabilities or not. And this means you've got to really understand their vulnerable position and strive to achieve those good outcomes. Now, vulnerable clients may be unable to make clear decisions. And as I said earlier, to represent their own best interests. And it can affect the way they engage with you. So, a client's vulnerability may not be immediately obvious, but these statistics here you can see on the screen show how many UK adults are at risk of potential harm. So, 47% of UK adults show one or more characteristics of vulnerability. 24% of UK adults have low financial resilience, and 60% of UK adults find keeping up with domestic bills and credit commitments a heavy burden or somewhat of a burden.

So, as we move on, then how do we identify a vulnerable customer? Well, we all go through difficult times in our lives as demand and prices change, but we don't always share these openly. That's why it can be difficult to spot if a client needs extra support. Now, some choose to disclose vulnerabilities direct, such as being hard of hearing. So, telephone conversations would obviously be difficult, but not everyone will always share this openly. Some may divulge indirectly, saying things such as I'm struggling to read or understand this. That's why it can be difficult to spot if a client needs extra support.

Now let's have a look and move on for other signs to look out for. Now, whether directly or indirectly, a client is unlikely to use the word vulnerable or understand that they might be classed as vulnerable, but asking unrelated questions so suddenly asking a question tied to the blue that doesn't relate to the conversation you have could show a sign of, misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge. And repeating themselves or appearing distressed or sounding flustered again might be quite an obvious way to show that clients, you know, aren't up to speed with what you're talking about. Following the conversation and may need some extra conversation and explanation. Also constantly answering yes, just agreeing all the while, but not really appearing to be keeping up with your conversation can highlight a lack of understanding. And making statements such as, you know, my partner, my husband, my wife has just died. Or yet my husband always used to deal with these things for me, or I've recently lost my job, or I'm nervous about having just been a victim to a hoax, can all be signs to look out for.

So, let's have a look at our next slide and using data. Now using your internal data or data from the providers you work with in partnership with can really help you identify customers at risk or who are vulnerable. And signals could include, but are not just limited to, but they could include late or missed payments. They could be an increased frequency of withdrawals, for example, on a pension. Obviously, a real red flag could be a claim on a protection policy. Or a change to the level of income being taken from a pension plan that might lead to retirement savings from running out sooner than you and your client had planned. Or increasing or decreasing contact with a client or any out of character behaviour. Obviously, you will know your clients, you know, how they normally interact and contact you. So, any change of character and that could be increasing or decreasing contact with that kind could signal, a vulnerability.

Now, let's move on now and have a look at providing opportunity for disclosure. Now, I think giving clients the opportunity to disclose any medical conditions or any additional needs through your relationship with them, can help ensure that they really will always get the support they need. Now, asking them if they're comfortable with you sharing this information with the provider can also help the provider too to support their needs. So the initial client meeting, I think this gives new clients, and you the opportunity to seek and encourage disclosure about any may be potential vulnerability or support that they need, and allows both of you to ask for further information.

Now your regular client reviews by ensuring existing clients have those regular reviews. You can identify if there's been a change to their personal or indeed financial circumstances. For example, if there's been a change in character, like they've had to take on additional caring responsibilities, or if there could be a potential conflict of interest, for example, where there's a joint policy but there's a breakdown in a relationship. And client feedback surveys. Client feedback surveys can indicate if a client does need, any additional support or maybe would prefer to receive information in a specific format. So, asking about their communication preferences or any improvements you can make to your service can really provide valuable insights.

Now, all of the above can help you understand if your normal advise process is appropriate to your client's needs. If the project you recommended remain suitable, or if the method of service delivery or support you, or indeed as a provider offer, needs to be flexed to avoid causing that foreseeable harm.

Now if we move to the next slide. How you can support vulnerable clients. Now there are many practical steps you can take to support clients with vulnerabilities, whether they're struggling with mental health challenges, financial complications, and the many other difficulties that could expose them to financial harm. Now, the Association of British Insurers say that the financial resilience is the ability to withstand life events that impact your income, and people's financial vulnerabilities are further exposed when considering housing and day to day costs if they are no longer able to work.

So, let's have a look at a few practical protection aspects. And if we move on to the next slide, then in the white boxes on the left-hand side, you'll see some areas that we might classed as areas of vulnerability. For example, someone might have had an illness, they might have had an accident and they're too unwell to work. They might have developed a serious illness, sadly had a heart attack, or been diagnosed with cancer. They might have a terminal illness and either they or a loved one died prematurely. Now, if we're looking, with a business protection hat on, areas of vulnerability might be that a client is looking at their exit strategy and they're not sure really about how they are going to plan that business. Or it might be that during conversation, you talk about estate planning. It might be that someone wants to make some gifts to reduce their IHT liability, or indeed, they need to consider looking at some sort of plan to, either reduce that or to be able to pay any IHT on their estate after death.

And as we've mentioned a few times, Fiona and I, it could be that they are going through a divorce or separation, or indeed it might just be that they're going through a bit of a bump in the road, and they need some wellbeing support. So, in the teal boxes on the right-hand side of your screen now, you can see all of the protection solutions that can help to make those, areas of vulnerability that little bit easier.

Now let's have a look at how you can support vulnerable clients. So, there are many practical steps that you can take to support those clients with vulnerability, whether it is they struggling with mental health challenges or financial complications and the many of the difficulties that could expose them to financial harm. So, client fact finds, I think are really super, super important, as we said a little while ago, it allows you to collect all that information allows both you, the advisor and the client to ask further questions and really unearth in the areas of variability that might need some extra support.

Keep an eye out for, cancelled premiums that could show, a level of financial vulnerability or maybe even a lack of understanding. We mentioned a little while ago that those regular reviews can be really important to check on a client's situation, to see if there have been any changes that you need to respond to. I think it's really, really super important to record any vulnerabilities on a client file, particularly if you happen to work in a firm where there, you might have multiple colleagues picking up a file or indeed just answering the telephone. So, I would suggest that you make it a real red flag on a file to show that you have unearthed a vulnerability and how the client wishes to be dealt with and supported going forward. And remember, when we're looking at vulnerabilities or areas that crop up in conversation, then it's again really important to signpost protection advice to an expert within that field. Or indeed it might be signposting other financial advice or indeed legal advice to other professionals. And again, ever so important to make sure that your communications, in the right way and are really clear.

So, let's move on and have a further look at how you can support vulnerable clients. As we said a little while ago, there are practical steps you can take to support clients with vulnerabilities. The first thing I'd say is to really consider your processes and policies. So have flexible processes, this enables you to give more support to the clients who have additional needs. So it might be that you're offering verbal or written approvals for those with physical or mental health difficulties. And use protective policies, so for example, you could limit how often a client makes pension's withdrawals if they're prone to making impulsive financial decisions, obviously, with their agreement. And recognised trigger points, understanding the factors that cause particular client behaviours can help you identify vulnerabilities and act accordingly. You might want to look to introduce a plain English vulnerability policy that could outline your procedures, support options and approach a one clear place. And I think this can help reassure clients and their families that you are considerate of their needs and will do your best to support them. You could even assign a vulnerability champion within your firm, who could review and adapt your policy over time, and maybe even create training plans for all of the team so that they stay informed.

Now, delivering clear and adaptable client information is really, really important. And reducing jargon and technical terms again is very, very important to the client. So, you can, improve the clarity and usefulness of the communication by making sure that you give the client everything they need. I think it's really important that clients have all the necessary information, including key product details at the point of sale, as well as ensuring they receive ongoing information post-sale, such as policy updates or monthly statements. And offering that right information at the right time is, again, so important. All clients should be given the information at the correct time and presented in a way so that can clearly understand the products, including how it works, benefit, risks, costs so they can make good decisions. And reducing that jargon and technical terms to make that communication easier to understand is very, very important for, for clients.

Now, I think when making recommendations it's really important on giving advice that you check if your clients understand the information they're giving at each step of the journey. So that could include their understanding on any risks and benefits of the project you recommend or the service that you're providing. And if there's anything they don't understand, you may have to explain things in more detail or present information in a different way, such as may be a case study or illustration. And I know it goes without saying, but review your onsite accessibility, particularly for those clients who have, physical disabilities.

Now structuring a Letter of Authority means that your client has a record of the person or people they trust to correspond on their behalf in the event they lose the capability to do so. For example, if they were in hospital and the appointed third party then has authority to be given any policy information or change advisers servicing rights assigned to that policy. They do not have the authority, though, to make changes to a policy. This can only be done through a Power of Attorney or court protection, and there may be time, as we come on to Power of Attorney, where your clients may no longer want to, or they might not be able to make financial or other decisions for themselves. So, setting up a Power of Attorney enables them to give one or more trusted friends or family members of the legal authority to make decisions on their behalf. So, your clients can set up a pair of attorneys to look after their property and financial decisions, as well as health and welfare decisions, should they lose the ability to make those important decisions themselves. And remember appointing a Power of Attorney is not just for older and wealthier people. It's important for everyone to consider. If your client doesn't have a Power of Attorney in place and they lose the ability to make their own decisions, their friends and family could have to go to court to request that Court of Protection order, which would give them the authority to make those decisions and that can be costly and time consuming. So therefore, it might be a good idea to make all clients aware of the benefits of setting up a Power of Attorney, whilst they're in good health.

Now I just end this, session of mine before handing back to Fiona by just giving you just a heads up and something to watch out for. The FCA have said that they are reviewing or setting up a review of firm's treatment of customers in vulnerable circumstances. And they're doing that right now as we speak. And they've also said they are going to report back on those findings by the end of 2024. So just be mindful of that and we will look forward to the end of the year and see how the FCA, feel that we are all dealing with those vulnerable clients. So, I'm going to hand back to Fiona now for a while to look at some practical pension aspects.

Thank you so much, Shelly. I'm going to consider three aspects of pensions where vulnerability is particularly relevant. And those are income drawdown, pensions and divorce, and the taxation of pension death benefits. With the remainder of the new rules since the 6th of April 2024, as you know, these have changed how death benefits have been taxed.

So, in March this year, the FCA published their findings after their thematic review of retirement income advice, and we've got a webinar dedicating an hour to this topic if you want to go into further detail on it, it's there now - https://adviser.royallondon.com/technical-central/cpd/pensions-cpd-hub/retirement-income-advice-review/. Vulnerable customers are mentioned quite a few times, and the findings state that broadly, there is some good news, but there is definitely some room for improvement. 952 out of the 958 firms had put steps in place to identify vulnerability, but, you know, a small number only had kind of generic policies in place.

There are instances where potential vulnerabilities have not been identified or explored, despite there being evidence on the file to suggest vulnerabilities may be present. So, clients and accumulation, where presumably most people's capacity to earn further income is reduced, and now that they're faced with this new this new concept of income sustainability, it's easy to see why a vulnerability could lead to greater detriment. You know, during this time in retirement than it would an accumulation when you've got other supports available.

And I wanted to show you the research methodology for this review. The results were drawn from a representative sample of 977 advisor firms who responded to a data survey, as well as a desk-based review of the advice models and 100 advice files of a non-representative sample of 24 firms. Remember, this is the first time since pension freedoms were introduced at the FCA have told us what good and bad looks like for retirement income advice. Yeah, we had the retirement outcome review in 2018, but that was pretty much focused on non-advised at retirement solutions. So, it's important we understand the regulator's areas of concerns for the advice market and look to address any shortcomings that you know you have within your firm when it comes to these aspects. And the data survey indicated most firms had made reasonable adjustments to help vulnerable clients during either the initial or ongoing advice stages. Six firms, remember, stated they did not have a policy in place. So here are those figures broken down. 957 firms said they include family or friends in meetings, or at least that option. 937 firms provide home visits. 929 firms use face to face relevant paper. 770 firms provide telephone advice. 743 firms provide additional touchpoints. And 620 firms use more concise or clearer documentation, which I'm sure none of us would disagree with.

As clients get older if they're in income drawdown, the importance of recognising these risks increases. The FCA found that it was not clear for almost half of the firms looked at how they would be able to properly monitor vulnerable customer outcomes, as we said, they had policies in place but did not appear to collate any data to be able to track or measure those outcomes, you know, going forward. The FCA points out in their Dear CEO letter that when it comes to, these examples, one of which is on the screen of good practice, what they're really seeing is there that that's good practice is what firms should be aiming for if they're not already. That good practice isn't just, you know, a suggestion or something that you just read. So the reviews, as Shelby said, are therefore vital to ensure any vulnerability comes to light at the right time, particularly when we're talking about income drawdown. And these examples of good and poor practice are therefore worth looking at later, if this is something you think you need to adopt or alter.

So, thinking about divorce then, as you said earlier, divorce is one of those life events which could mean temporary or longer-term vulnerability. Financial advisors are well-placed to help clients through this process or this life event. Thinking about this on a purely practical level, advisors can help the client consider the impact any divorce will have and that expression of wish forms when it comes to appointing your death benefits. Certain public sector schemes will benefit from independent valuations to ensure the ex-spouse is receiving a fair value, it's really only adviser who would know how to go about that. Any older pension attachment orders advisers are well placed to ensure they still operate properly after legislative changes. And advisers are definitely well-placed to help build up those assets after a divorce, if that's a requirement.

And when it comes to divorce, always remember that lawyers aren't regulated, qualified or insured to give financial advice. There are many instances in that divorce proceeding involving pensions which will require advice, and if lawyers can’t give it then someone else has to and financial advisers are definitely best placed to do this. So the role of the financial advisor is vital when it comes to divorce and from this guide that we're referring to here on pensions and divorce, I think it's worth bringing a couple of these roles with a particular focus on vulnerability. However, the positive impact an adviser can have on the divorce process doesn't begin and end with regulated advice. There are a number of other skills advisors possess and can utilise in non-divorce work, which can add a lot of value and will often include skills the solicitor may not possess.

For example, establishing the income needs both currently and in the future for one or both the member and that spouse or ex-spouse is very important, particularly in these needs-based cases, to determine income levels which may impact the split of assets in the divorce process. Identifying client vulnerability and perhaps implementing a strategy to deal with vulnerable clients is really important. And obviously, the financial services industry has focused a lot of attention on dealing with vulnerable clients in recent years. So, it's really easy or quite easy to see how divorce could create vulnerability as it's a life event. Most people will not have experienced and creates major financial and emotional upheaval, and currently, it feels like there's even more vulnerability than normal. Advisors may be better at identifying vulnerability and suggesting amended processes to take account of it. And then there's that sort of one of the final points. They're divorced, particularly if you've been married for a considerable period of time, is a life altering event. The likes of many people would have experienced, or hopefully only experience once, and as well as the impact it may have on their personal life, their financial circumstances are often turned completely upside down and financial plans and goals may be significantly altered or, you know, even disappear or get torn up altogether. So even people who have never taken financial advice may feel the need to do so at this point of divorce. Having a financial advisor involved in the divorce process, offering the service at the point the customer needs it without having to search, you know, an unfamiliar market to provide that may be, you know, invaluable to their financial circumstances going forward.

So I want you to talk about pension death benefits as well. And when it comes to pension death benefits, it's vital to plan ahead to ensure that you know the options are set up correctly. Then this is to make sure benefits are paid on time to the correct people are certainly who you want to receive those benefits. Because it's likely that the recipients are going to be vulnerable if they've just suffered a bereavement, obviously the death of the member. So it's important to review any trust set up to receive pension death benefits. Are those trust still required? Is a client aware of the potential tax charge on death after age 75? And are they aware of the new rules affecting the taxation of death benefits? You know, any of this conversation, could mean that the trust isn't required anymore. And it's definitely really easy just to set it aside and complete a new expression of wish. So that should be looked at in the review meeting every year.

Does the plan offer what the beneficiaries want. And here we're really talking about beneficiary drawdown because if somebody dies and beneficiary drawdown isn't available from that plan, you can't therefore then subsequently transfer to a provider who does offer beneficiary drawdown. It won't be possible. So therefore, then it's vital to make sure that if the member wants drawdown, if the beneficiary wants drawdown, you have to make sure that that plan offers that.

Thinking about older clients with less entitlements after age 75, as important as the right to 25% tax free cash all day with you, as all the benefits of death at age 75 becomes subject to that marginal rate of income tax on death after age 75. And it's vital to make sure expression of which forms are kept up to date, or at least filled in correctly, because this will make sure benefits are paid potentially much more quickly and reflects your most recent wishes, and making sure the clients or the beneficiaries that you want to receive drawdown are named on that form. Perhaps, to make sure they are actually able to receive, beneficiary drawdown.

And also think about the difference between discretion and direction. And if direction has been used, is it still appropriate with IHT in mind and consider changing this if necessary.

So, I want to just use this opportunity to give you a quick recap on the changes to how pension death benefits are taxed. Since the 6th of April 2024, because there are occasions, I would see where, you know, tax charges could arise if, you know, the right planning isn't done correctly. So on the 15th of March 2023, the Chancellor announced the lifetime allowance is being withdrawn and replaced with new allowances. And these allowances cap the available tax for you lump sums during your lifetime and on your death before age 75. And these new allowances became operational from the 6th of April 2024.

The new lump sum and death benefit allowance. As a cap on tax free lump sums your beneficiaries can have when your death before age 75, anything taken above that as a lump sum would be taxed at that beneficiary's marginal rate. So to me, this highlights the potential use of beneficiary drawdown because of beneficiary drawdown is instead chosen instead of that lump sum option. Then that could mean that tax charges avoided. So if you have clients with funds of around about 1,070,100, the level of that lump sum and death benefit allowance, then really making sure beneficiary drawdown is available is vital. I would say as part of your consumer duty requirements as well, because by making sure beneficiary drawdown is available in these types of cases, you're avoiding that foreseeable harm, which in this instance would be a tax charge. I wouldn't like to have a conversation with someone who faced a tax charge because their plan didn't offer beneficiary drawdown, because it simply had never been discussed.

And importantly, benefits crystallised before the 6th of April 2024 are not measured against this new lump sum in death benefit loans. But funds placed in drawdown after the 6th of April 2024 are. So, I would say it's vital to make sure you're up to date with these changes so you can plan ahead to make sure you don't make these mistakes when clients, you know, are at their most vulnerable. Now lastly, the transitional rules are a large aspect of these changes and, you know, you could talk through them, you could talk about them for an hour themselves. But all I really wanted to point out to you here is that make sure you're aware of how benefit's taken before the 6th of April 2024 affect the allowances after the 6th of April 2024 and apply for any transitional tax treatment certificates in good time. It could mean the difference between a client getting some tax-free cash, or getting a higher amount of tax-free cash than they would otherwise have got. So now I'm going to hand you back to Shelley to take you through the remainder of the session. Thanks, Shelley.

Thanks, Fiona. So, as we come to the end of our webinar today, let's finally look at how providers can really help and support you as advisers. So, I think the first thing really is to say that we're really proud at Royal London of our literature library. Not only does it provide a whole host of support for you as advisors, but we also have lots of client facing material to help you have those conversations and, to help you explain some of the financial services discussions that you're having with clients.

Now, one of the other things that I think is really important for us to be able to signal potential vulnerabilities to you. So, our business development managers can share insight with you based on both our pension and protection data, and that can help you, I think, to have timely conversations with clients to help them avoid that foreseeable harm. So, for example, our insights could let you see if there's been any activity that might signal potential vulnerabilities and that could include, obviously, a protection policy claim, maybe a missed policy payments or even unsustainable income withdrawal on a pension plan.

Now clear Communications, our customer communications really are tested and reviewed to ensure that they have a clear purpose, are easy to understand, and include information that could help your clients achieve those financial objectives. And we also offer communication in alternative formats such as braille, large print, or audio. And our website and email communications have been designed with accessibility in mind, so you, as advisors, can feel confident that will support all your clients, including those with vulnerabilities.

Now Financial Wellbeing Support both our mobile app and customer website will give your clients access to a range of financial wellbeing guides and articles written by our in-house experts. Now these will cover key topics like budgeting, dealing with live events including, sadly, bereavement and understanding investments. And workplace pension scheme, those members also have access to our free financial wellbeing service, which offers financial guidance and advice to help them manage debt, help them with budgeting, looking at long-term saving and of course, retirement planning. And it offers a personalised experience so your clients will only say information that's relevant to them.

Now emotional and practical support, this is provided by Helping Hand, and it gives clients with a Royal land and Protection policy access to a range of hand-picked early medical care services and support with both physical or mental illness, injury or bereavement. Helping Hand is available for the plan owner and importantly, for their partner and children. And they can use this even if they don't to make a claim.

So, our health and wellbeing directory, will help your clients access support services in their area. So, this could include age related support, help with bereavement, domestic abuse or even housing support. And the directory aims to help all customers understand the support that's available to them so that they can access it when they need it.

So, as we move onto our final, screen here, I'm pretty confident that, Fiona and I have managed to turn those learning objectives into outcome, so I'll leave those just for a second or so for you to have a look at.

And then the final slide I will leave you with our Royal London advisor website address. Of course, our normal sales contact, business development manager at Royal London will be more than happy to pick up and discuss further anything that Fiona and I have raised today. But I think the final thing is just from myself and Fiona, a really big thank you for taking the trouble to listen to our Vulnerable Cause webinar today. Thank you.