Shoosmiths has been nominated for a Customer Commitment Award by the Institute of Customer Service for its determination to treat clients’ customers with mental health issues fairly and sensitively. Jenny Ogden of the firm’s recovery services group looks at how and why
The catalyst for the Shoomsmiths’ recoveries service group (RSG) approach to treating those with mental health issues fairly and with sensitivity arrived in 2010.
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Shoosmiths became the first leading law firm to join the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), seeing it as an opportunity to understand clients’ needs fully and, crucially, the needs of their customers.
The RSG brings together recoveries for lenders and other major businesses. Clients include UK and European banks, finance houses, major building societies, manufacturer-owned motor finance companies, independent asset finance and motor finance companies, plus major corporates and PLCs.
Given the nature of our clients’ businesses, and the number and type of customers they have, we established an internal treating customers fairly (TCF) policy some years ago, but wanted to go further, so we set up a specific framework to ensure customers with mental health issues are identified early.
We also wanted to work with clients to ensure a consistent approach. So we arranged training for staff and clients provided by the Royal Society of Psychiatrists and the Money Advice Trust (MAT).
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By GlobalDataIt didn’t stop there. We trained more than 250 front line staff, delivered bespoke training to clients, and appointed and trained dedicated people to be the mental health focal point in individual teams.
Overall supervision is provided by a mental health issues coordinator, with responsibility for monitoring, training and competency, as well as taking referrals on more complex cases.
We have done this because up to one in four British adults could be living with a mental health issue – including anxiety, dementia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia – and a disproportionately high percentage of sufferers have bad debts.
Our approach aims to provide a better understanding of mental health issues and how they affect people in debt, enabling staff to recognise the warning signs and deal with customers appropriately. It also means we and our clients comply with our regulatory obligations to ensure appropriate treatment of individuals.
Adherence to the money advice liaison group’s (MALG) recommendations can be taken into account by our regulators when considering TCF and irresponsible lending. Many organisations, such as the Finance & Leasing Association and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, also back the MALG recommendations. Appropriate treatment of individuals increases the likelihood of sustaining communication with them and achieving either an acceptable repayment agreement or a resolution to the dispute, without unduly exacerbating the individual’s condition.
Failing to take customers’ mental health issues into account can result in an individual feeling pressurised to make payment proposals that cannot be kept.
When payment agreements are broken, it leads to a breach between the individual and the lender.
The lender may then escalate the matter, resulting in rising costs that place more pressure on the individual, leading ultimately to a ‘debt spiral’.
Spotting the signs of mental health issues can be difficult. They include denying the seriousness of the situation, unusual aggression, mood swings, refusal to accept responsibility or to engage or respond to letters and telephone calls, and memory loss.
But aren’t these all things we come across when dealing with individuals without mental health issues? How do you tell the difference?
As a rough guide, the more of these signs clustered together, the more likely it is that the person may have mental health issues. If uncertain, staff are encouraged to err on the side of caution and follow usual procedures for encouraging people to disclose relevant problems.
People often fail to disclose mental health issues because they worry about how the information will be used, are concerned it will affect future credit availability, think we won’t understand, or believe it won’t make any difference.
To encourage disclosure, we take our time and build a rapport with the customer; ask open questions; ask how we can help; avoid being judgmental, making assumptions or stereotyping; and try to use positive words and phrases.
Rather than treat these cases as standard, staff are urged to ‘think outside the box’ and consider whether, for example, they should telephone rather than write, allow extra time, or make contact at specific times only. They are also asked to maximise the information they gather on customers’ ‘good days’, and to acknowledge that in all probability they will not make progress on their ‘bad days’.
There is plenty of support available, and staff know who they can refer cases to, whether internally – to senior colleagues – or externally. A list of free debt advice services is available to give to customers if required.
All this helps us treat people with metal health issues fairly and with sensitivity, providing the sort of advice that helps them resolve their debt issues, rather than compound them.
Jenny Ogden is senior associate in Shoosmiths’ recoveries services group
