News

Cerebreon, a leading data insights platform in the insolvency tech market, has joined the Vulnerability Registration Service as a member to enhance their existing vulnerability algorithms and rapidly identify individuals that need additional support in the debt process.

With unsecured debt reaching record highs and Covid-19 causing increasing levels of financial distress, Cerebreon’s partnership with the Vulnerability Registration Service is the next stage in developing the 360o view of the consumer.

This perspective helps Cerebreon identify those consumers likely to miss their repayments so that preventative action can be taken. The best outcome can be achieved for vulnerable consumers whilst protecting debt industry clients’ incomes in a time when predictability is key for sustaining business.

Gillian Doyle, CEO of Cerebreon, said: “Checking for vulnerability should be as normal to the financial services industry just as anti-money-laundering and credit checks are. This is much more than a regulatory issue – by signing up to the Vulnerability Registration Service, we are helping our own customers to rapidly identify additional vulnerabilities outside of financial distress so that the right resource, skill set or solution can be matched to the specific needs of the consumer.”

She went on to say, “Our clients are exceptional at giving advice, but the time needed to fully understand the consumer’s situation is substantial and costly. Adding the Vulnerability Registration Service to our platform reduces this time so that they can more effectively spend the time on resolution to achieve the best outcome for all stakeholders.”

A not-for-profit organisation, the Vulnerability Registration Service provides the UK’s first central vulnerability database. As a member, Cerebreon will be able to check against the database and be alerted if there is a vulnerability flag registered against a customer record.

These flags provide an extra layer of protection to ensure that Cerebreon clients, including debt advice agencies and creditors, can instantly understand if a vulnerability exists for a consumer. With increasing volumes of calls and help required for over-indebted consumers, these insights are extremely important to minimise compliance risks for the firms and bring an individual bespoke quality to a volume situation.

Helen Lord, Director of The Vulnerability Registration Service concluded: “Financial services firms often want to do the right thing when it comes to protecting their most vulnerable customers but don’t always have the means to identify them. Through the use of the Vulnerability Registration Service, this challenge is easily overcome, and it is great to have Cerebreon on-board and take such a strong stance in helping the insolvency and debt industry meet their vulnerability obligations.”

Vulnerable people, including those in financial distress, with mental health problems, at risk of financial abuse, victims of fraud, their representatives such as those with power of attorney can register for free with the Vulnerability Registration Service to make financial services providers and other organisations aware of their current financial or personal vulnerable circumstances.

The Vulnerability Registration Service is urging more financial services organisations, utilities and collection agencies to join its membership and further details can be found at www.vulnerabilityregistrationservice.co.uk