Keeping vulnerable customer data both accurate and current
Data accuracy and currency is always a challenge. Even databases which are managed can get out of date quickly. With databases used to help manage vulnerable customers, the consequences of this can be dire. So, here’s how MorganAsh is working to address the challenge.
For any kind of contact list, data quality is a challenge in three ways:
The data may be incomplete.
The data can be incorrect.
The data degrades over time.
When considering managing vulnerable customers, these issues can present real problems and need to be dealt with. Let’s look at them in turn, then see how we tackle them with MARS, the MorganAsh Resilience System. (MARS is cloud-based software for assessing, identifying, managing, helping and reporting on vulnerable customers.)
Incomplete data
Data can be incomplete for many reasons. The most likely is that you only gathered what was initially needed, or your data needs changed. Both scenarios are common and understandable.
Incorrect data
It’s very easy for data to be entered incorrectly, whether it’s by an agent or even the consumer. Just look at how many online forms ask people to repeat their email addresses – they do that for a reason! Even something familiar can be mistyped.
Data degradation
Contact data and personal information changes over time. That’s part of its very nature. People marry, separate, change jobs, move house, have children, die and so on. At a personal level, these changes don’t seem to happen that often, but with data of any size the changes are frequent. Data typically degrades at around 15% per year, so it doesn’t take long before it becomes questionable.
Of course, the scale of these issues depends on many things – for example, someone may sign up on a priority service register (PSR) and forget about it. Within a couple of years, the data could be useless. At the other end of the scale, a person may interact with a firm often and the data could be relatively clean.
But it is an issue, especially when managing vulnerable customers. This isn’t just with contact information, although that is an issue, but also with data on the customer’s vulnerability characteristics. These change over time, so again, the data degrades. Incorrect or missing data can lead directly to avoidable harms – and if you can’t contact someone reliably then you can’t manage their needs if they are vulnerable.
How MorganAsh tackles this, with MARS
There are three important ways we can help keep data complete and current:
Gather detailed data consistently and frequently.
Reference that data against relevant sources.
Supplement that data with other, known good data.
Gathering data
With MARS, collecting data is largely automatic – and it’s collected in a consistent and detailed manner, directly from the source, the customer. This makes assessments and reassessments painless. How often a customer is assessed is up to the firm and the products/services supplied, but as part of an annual review it quickly becomes an accepted part of the process. Our assessment is based on over 20 years of assessing and working with vulnerable people – and built in no small part by trained healthcare professionals. This makes sure our data has strong foundations.
Referencing data
We can then reference the data against the Vulnerability Registration Service, to check if the customer has opted in. We’re also working with utilities firms, who use a Preferential Services Register, and in time, with consumer consent, we aim to be able to cross reference that.
Supplementing data
MorganAsh partners with LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which holds extensive consumer data that is exceptionally accurate and up to date. The data within MARS can be supplemented by that from LexisNexis, using the unique LexID to accurately marry the data. A LexID is assigned to the UK’s adult population and LexisNexis has consolidated the data history associated with everyone to their record. Our database is continuously growing with new information. This means there is an up-to-date and accurate view of an individual’ s current status – and there are also additional insights built up over time.
It’s definitely true that all customer databases are inaccurate – just ask anyone who has to manage a contact list or mailing list. But this is something we simply must recognise and act on, with the goal of making the data as good as it possibly can be.
We’re also working towards using other data sources to reference or supplement that within MARS. These include open banking data – which will be great at highlighting changes that can be used to trigger other actions i.e. to check in with the consumer.
