Insights

Meet Amelia – Customer Experience Manager and Vulnerable Customer Lead

Q: Can you tell us about your role?

I joined the Customer Experience team in January 2022, having previously worked as a coach in Mortgages Direct Sales. Ensuring good outcomes for customers, especially those who need extra help, is something I’ve been passionate about since starting at Bank of Ireland back in 2015 when I worked in our contact centre.

I became a Vulnerable Customer Champion early on in my career, and over time have really developed my knowledge in this space. In my current role, I help ensure that the mortgage experience is working well for everyone, particularly those facing additional challenges. I do this by analysing feedback from customers and brokers, complaints, surveys, journey reviews and frontline colleagues feedback to help understand where things could be improved.

I’m also part of the team that handles customer cases with varying, and sometimes complex, support requirements. We look at each situation individually and work out the best possible approach, with the customer’s needs at the centre of the decision.

A big part of my role is managing the delivery of initiatives to help vulnerable customers. This includes providing subject matter expertise across the mortgage business, and also working closely with our communications team to ensure both brokers and customers know about any changes we’re making and why we are making them. We’re continually making improvements, but there is always more we can do - it’s something that is continually evolving to adapt to the meet the needs of vulnerable customers.

Supporting Customers’ Mental Health

Q: How does the Bank identify and support customers experiencing mental health difficulties?

Our teams are trained to recognise when a customer might be struggling with their mental health and to respond with empathy and care. That support doesn’t always need to happen over the phone. We know that for some people, making a phone call can feel overwhelming. That’s why we also offer support using secure messaging through our customer Mortgage Hub.

With the customer’s permission, we can add a note to their account with any support needs. This helps ensure that each time they get in touch with us, the interaction is handled in a way that works for them. That might mean only calling at certain times, switching to written communication, or allowing a trusted third party to help manage their mortgage account.

We also have trained Mental Health First Aiders and Vulnerable Customer Champions to support our colleagues when they need advice, or after dealing with distressing cases. More complex scenarios can be escalated to my team for further help and guidance.

Positive Changes and Real Impact

Q: Can you share some positive outcomes from any recent initiatives to support vulnerable customers?

We’ve made lots of positive changes - here are a few highlights from 2024:

• We’ve improved our process so that customers who need documents in alternative formats, such as braille or large print, receive them in the format that best meets their needs, and made messaging more prominent so that customers are aware of these options.
• We launched SignVideo, enabling customers who use sign language to communicate with our contact centre via an interpreted video call.

One of the most impactful areas of progress has been in our approach to supporting customers affected by domestic, financial and economic abuse (DFEA). Unfortunately, we’ve seen a rise in DFEA-related cases across the industry in recent years. These situations are often complex, distressing and can have a significant impact on a customer’s mental health, particularly where joint mortgages or shared financial responsibilities are involved.

In response, we’ve introduced a range of measures to better support these customers, including:

• New system alerts to support colleagues in handling cases with extra care.
• In-depth DFEA training rolled out to all customer-facing teams, equipping them with the skills and confidence to support customers in difficult and sensitive situations.
• Dedicated webpages focused on relationship breakdown and DFEA, offering clear information on the support we can provide and signposting to specialist charities and services.

We’ve also made our processes more flexible to better meet the needs of customers in these circumstances:

• For existing customers, we now have processes in place to help separate their financial ties where needed.
• We’ve introduced new rules allowing a trusted third party to be authorised on a mortgage account with the consent of just one joint account holder. In DFEA cases, requiring both parties’ consent could put the affected customer at further risk or prevent them from managing their mortgage safely.

This remains a key area of focus for us and reflects our commitment to taking a ‘Customer first’ approach - working collaboratively across teams to deliver meaningful support. We’re working on further improvements, and we’ll continue to build on this progress in 2025.

Amelia Steel, Customer Experience Manager and Vulnerable Customer Lead

Advice for Mortgage Brokers

Q: What advice would you give to mortgage brokers who are supporting clients experiencing mental health difficulties?

One of the biggest things is awareness. Many people don’t know that banks can provide support when someone is going through a tough time. So, I’d encourage brokers to raise this with clients and give examples of how lenders can help. Our Life Events page is a good place to start.

Be open and empathetic in your conversations. Ask your client what they’re dealing with, how it might be affecting their ability to manage their mortgage or application, and what kind of help they might need. It’s also worth acknowledging that mental health and money worries often go hand in hand - one can easily affect the other.

If appropriate, talk to your client about their support network – do they have someone they trust, like a friend, family member or neighbour who could help? Depending on what they’re willing to share with you, you could signpost them to charities like Mind or Samaritans, or help them find local support services. Sometimes just letting them know that they can reach out via webchat or email, not just by phone, can make a real difference, as often a phone call can be daunting or overwhelming for someone experiencing a mental health episode or crisis.

And finally, don’t forget to look after yourself. These conversations can be emotionally demanding and it’s important for brokers to have someone to talk to as well.

Q: How can brokers and the Bank work together to provide the best support?

Whether it’s a new or existing customer, it’s important to let us know early on if the client has specific support needs. That way we can make the right adjustments and record any necessary information on our systems.

You can let us know by calling us or sending a case message using our online application system. And if you’re not sure what support we can offer, just give us a call - we’ll be happy to talk it through.

It’s also really helpful when brokers share with our colleagues what they’re seeing and hearing from clients and the wider industry. The more insight we have, the better we can identify emerging trends and shape future support improvements.

We’d always ask that any insights shared are anonymised, so no personal or identifiable information is included - unless it relates to cases where the customer has given clear consent.

Overcoming Challenges

Q: What challenges have you faced in implementing support for vulnerable customers, and how have you overcome them?

While there is now far greater awareness of mental health and wider potential vulnerabilities, many customers are still reluctant to share details about their support needs or personal circumstances. There’s often a fear that disclosing this information could negatively affect their mortgage or application, but this is not the case.

It’s so important to reassure customers that anything they tell you or us is used only to offer the right help and support. That might be as simple as being more patient during a call, giving extra time to digest information, or even signposting them to resources like the Breathing Space scheme.

We’ve worked hard to address this concern by updating our messaging to encourage customers to tell us about any additional needs, and to reassure them that doing so will only lead to better support. We’ve also added a lot more information to our websites, both for customers and intermediaries. This includes a new page on our intermediary website specifically dedicated to supporting vulnerable customers, with guidance for brokers on how to identify and respond to signs of vulnerability.

Our colleagues are trained to proactively ask about additional support needs and respond with empathy. We also equip them with examples of what we can put in place - from small adjustments to more tailored solutions.

And we’re continuing to explore new ways to make it easier for both brokers and customers to share information with us, so we can provide support as early and effectively as possible.

Final Thoughts

Q: To wrap up – what’s the key thing you’d like mortgage brokers to remember when it comes to mental health?

Listen without judgement and try to really understand what the person in front of you needs - not just financially, but emotionally too.

It’s ok not to have all the answers. Often, just being kind, showing empathy, and pointing someone in the right direction can go a long way. Our customer webpage has lots of useful information on how we can support. And remember that your wellbeing matters too. Take time to process tough conversations and make sure you’ve got good support in place as well.