Vulnerable Customers

Gravesham Friendly is committed to ensuring that vulnerable members are treated with care, attention and respect. Ensuring that Members in vulnerable circumstances are treated not only fairly, but with understanding and sensitivity to their circumstances is one of our priorities. A vulnerable member is defined as someone who has personal circumstances that place them at a higher risk of harm, particularly if a company does not act with the correct level of care.

Living with a disability or illness does not in itself necessarily make someone vulnerable. It is the person’s situation and any barriers that they may face to accessing services that may make them vulnerable. A person may be vulnerable without any disability or illness due to their personal circumstances. For example, if they are recently bereaved or living alone or in poor living conditions.

In order to enable our staff to correctly address the needs of a vulnerable member, it is important to be able to identify them first. Therefore, if there are any issues relating to your health and/or your personal circumstances which you think we should be aware of then please let us know, (on a voluntary basis), so that we can provide you with the appropriate level of care and support.

Policy Statement

The Board of Directors of Gravesham Friendly take its responsibility seriously to ensure its processes and procedures addresses the need to understand and treat vulnerable members fairly. Gravesham Friendly abide by regulatory rules within the FCA’s Principle of Business.https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/treating-vulnerable-consumers-fairly

• Principle 2 Skill, Care & Diligence
• Principle 3 Management & Control
• Principle 6 Customer’s Interests
• Principle 7 Communications with Clients
• Principle 9 Customers: Relationship of Trust

Gravesham Friendly staff will follow internal guidelines to ensure that vulnerable member circumstances and characteristics are identifiable, recorded and monitored during its business activities. Examples of key characteristics are:

• Health – Any condition or illness that affects the ability to carry out daily tasks.
• Life events – Events include bereavement, job loss or retirement.
• Resilience – Reduced ability to withstand financial or emotional shock.
• Capability – Low confidence and confidence in managing money/financial matters. This driver includes low capability in areas such as literacy and numeracy.