The Resilience Rating is a key part of MARS. It is an objective and consistent measure of vulnerability that can be easily communicated and enables triggers to be created for follow-up activities – and the all-important management information.
It has multiple levels of detail which enable someone’s resilience or vulnerability status to be communicated and understood easily, with the only the appropriate level of detail being communicated to those who need it. This enables wide communication while in accordance with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
Why a rating?
Vulnerability is a complex topic. There are many different types of vulnerability; each type of vulnerability isn’t binary – for example, just as someone isn’t either ‘rich’ or ‘poor’ (a measure of wealth) someone isn’t just ‘blind’ or ‘sighted’. There is a wide range, and different types of, visual impairment. In addition, that person may have coping mechanisms which negate an apparent vulnerability – for example, reading braille, having a braille or talking watch and using assistive technologies on a computer. It would be wrong to assess everyone with any kind of sight issue in the same way. The same is true for all other vulnerabilities. However, without using an assessment method such as MARS, all of these nuances are difficult to communicate consistently. The objective nature of the Resilience Rating allows us to do this and overcomes inconsistencies of individual subjective assessments.
Another issue is that people often have more than one vulnerability. For example, someone may have a long-lasting vulnerability and then lose their job. They may well be able to cope with one vulnerability and struggle to a greater extent when there is more than one. It’s not unusual for people to have several characteristics of vulnerability. These combinations are difficult for humans to quantify. MARS is representative of all vulnerabilities and outputs one single rating, making it easy to communicate and understand – just like a credit score.
Which numbers are good and which are bad?
None of them are either. People have different characteristics of vulnerability. The MorganAsh Resilience Rating uses 10 as the most resilient and 1 the most vulnerable. Neither are good or bad. It’s not a contest and there are no prizes.
Are low scores unusual?
The short answer is no. According to the FCA (the Financial Conduct Authority) around half of all people in the UK would be classified as vulnerable in some way. This sounds like a lot of people (and it is) but that doesn’t mean that all of those people are in dire straits. They simply have one or more vulnerability characteristic. It’s common – think about it. Few people go through life without losing someone significant, losing a job or having a serious illness. It’s part of life. Some people have vulnerabilities which are life-limiting and permanent, while many – most – have ones which are less serious and often transitory. So, low scores are common because consumer vulnerability is common. It’s not a value judgement of someone’s worth as a person or financially. It’s a barometer of where they sit on a scale of vulnerable to resilient. One would have to be very well off, incredibly healthy and have suffered no life traumas to score high – like ‘extremely low’ this would be the exception, not the rule. As mentioned, almost all people suffer life traumas – few die before their parents and don’t experience bereavement, for example.
Does a low score negatively impact on a consumer?
No. In fact, the whole point of assessing someone’s vulnerability status is to help them – the information is used to help avoid bad outcomes for the consumer. Without this information firms would have no choice other than to treat everyone the same. This information enables firms to adapt to the needs of their customers. This may be to ensure they are only provided with services and products which are suitable for them; it may be to tailor communications and processes towards their needs. It is a consumer protection, not a device to stop people having what would be good for them.
Does a low score mean we can’t sell to them?
No – indeed, sometimes the opposite. Typically, a low score means they may need help to overcome this vulnerability and become more resilient. This is an opportunity to help them – even if this is simply signposting to another organisation. Help is usually well appreciated, even if it is not taken up – as it demonstrates empathy and concern.
How does the Resilience Rating help prevent harms?
Different firms interact with consumers in different ways – this may be selling a financial product, supplying with them with electricity or servicing a bank account – and so on. We refer to these interactions as ‘circumstances’. A potential harm occurs due to the combination of a consumer’s characteristics and the firms circumstances. For example, getting divorced may impact on someone’s finances but not their supply of electricity. The consumer may be deemed vulnerable to one firm, but not another – due to the potential impact of the circumstances.
The Resilience Rating is agnostic of circumstance – since that is in the control of the firm. It is an objective measure of the severity of a consumer’s characteristics, including any coping strategies that the consumer uses, regardless of the circumstances that may impact on them. It is up to the firm to decide which services or products help or hinder these characteristics – the Resilience Rating (and the information behind it) provides a solid, consistent bedrock for decision-making.
Do consumers have to do this?
No, it is each consumer’s choice. However, firms are required to understand the vulnerability characteristics and protected characteristics of their customers, so they may need to ascertain this in some other way. However, asking the consumer is the simplest, most honest and most accurate way to be provided with the information. Therefore, it’s always worth taking time to speak to those who want to know more, to assure them that the information is used to help them, and it helps their provider(s) comply with the regulation.
Is the Resilience Rating portable?
Yes – since the Resilience Rating is specific to each individual consumer, it may be used by multiple organisations. It is portable. Each organisation must in turn determine the potential impact of their products and services (the circumstances) in combination with the vulnerability characteristics.
What level of detail should be communicated?
The multi-level nature of the Resilience Rating enables only the appropriate amount of detail to be shared, on a needs-must basis. The high-level ‘single rating’ can be used widely, across firms, to trigger if there is a vulnerability or not and its severity. At the next level, it can be communicated if there is a health, life event or financial issue. The next level goes into more detail – of physical health or mental health, and the level below that, the rating for the issue. The final level is the full detail of the specific issues. The approach provides tiered confidentiality, only giving access to the information that is needed by a specific person in specific circumstances.
| Level | Level of detail | Example | Who might access this data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vulnerable or not | Yes | All staff – no limits |
| 2 | Need | Ensure family member or carer is present | Anyone who may come into contact with the consumer |
| 3 | Vulnerability scale – for example, very vulnerable | Very vulnerable | Most staff who come into contact with, or influence, consumers |
| 4 | Topic level – health, financial, life events | Health | Staff who come into contact with the consumer but don’t have any say on actions to be taken |
| 5 | More detail on the characteristic and its severity | Severe mental health | Staff who prescribe actions to be taken for the client |
| 6 | Full detail – including severity, and how it affects the consumer, may include mitigating factors if known | Severe bipolar – on medication | Only those staff involved in prescribing a service for the individual |