Halifax and Bank of Scotland awarded ‘Mental Health Accessible’ accreditation
The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute has awarded Halifax and Bank of Scotland its ‘Mental Health Accessible’ accreditation for businesses.
They are two of the first three organisations to receive this accolade, following the accreditation of Lloyds Bank in 2020.
This follows a comprehensive assessment by Money and Mental Health of how accessible Halifax and Bank of Scotland’s services are for customers with mental health problems, and where improvements could be made.
In response to feedback from Money and Mental Health, Halifax and Bank of Scotland have taken important steps to make their services easier to use for vulnerable customers.
The two banks have been awarded an “Essentials” rating, the first of three levels which firms can achieve in the Mental Health Accessible programme, and have committed to taking further action.
Money and Mental Health’s Mental Health Accessible programme supports essential services providers – such as banks, energy or broadband suppliers and water companies – to better understand and address the challenges that customers with mental health problems face using their services.
Money and Mental Health created the programme after publishing research which shows that more than half of people with mental health problems face serious difficulties using the phone to carry out essential admin, and four in ten have severe ‘admin anxiety’ — leaving them unable to effectively use essential services.
These problems also have a huge psychological toll — with more than one in five (22%) people with a recent mental health problem saying that they have had a panic attack as a result of dealing with an essential services provider.
Today, Money and Mental Health has announced that Halifax and Bank of Scotland have become only the second firms to receive the Mental Health Accessible accreditation, after Lloyds Bank received the first accreditation in 2020.
Halifax and Bank of Scotland received the accreditation following an in-depth evaluation by Money and Mental Health of how accessible their services are for customers with mental health problems.
Based on recommendations from Money and Mental Health, both banks have taken significant steps to ensure their services are more accessible and supportive for vulnerable customers. These include:
Supporting customers to know what to expect when they contact the bank with money worries, by including more online information and guidance.
Offering colleagues a specialist tool, so they can signpost customers to external organisations who can help them with financial and mental health problems.
Making their communications to customers with debt problems more empathetic.
Giving customers a range of ways to manage their accounts such as telephone, webchat, email and letter, to provide greater choice and flexibility. This will particularly help customers who struggle to use some communications channels.
Offering customers a “Trusted Person Cards”, through which they can allow a third party to withdraw cash and make purchases on their behalf in a secure way.
In recognition of these steps, Money and Mental Health has awarded Halifax and Bank of Scotland an “Essentials” rating, the first of three progressively more demanding levels which firms can achieve when taking part in the Mental Health Accessible programme.
It has also given Halifax and Bank of Scotland an action plan to help them make further improvements — for example, making it easier for colleagues to support customers with mental health conditions by providing them with additional tools and information.
Money and Mental Health has also renewed Lloyds Bank’s “Essentials” accreditation (awarded in 2020) for another year, to reflect the bank’s continued commitment to improving the accessibility of its services.
Now Money and Mental Health is calling on more essential services providers to join the Mental Health Accessible programme, and to take steps to make their services easier to use for customers with poor mental health.
Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said:
“Dealing with essential services providers can be difficult for anyone. But for the 12 million people across the UK experiencing mental health problems, it can feel like an impossible task. This leaves people effectively locked out of services which are critical for everyday life, and can create serious distress for people who are already struggling.
“We’re delighted that Halifax and Bank of Scotland have recognised the barriers that people can sometimes face, and taken serious steps to address them through the Mental Health Accessible programme. It’s a big achievement to receive the “Essentials” level of our accreditation — but now we want to work with both banks to make further improvements that will ease the strain for vulnerable customers using their services.
“We’re also urging other businesses to work with us to ensure their services are as accessible as possible. With more people facing financial worries as the furlough scheme ends, and rates of depression having increased during the pandemic, it’s more important than ever that everyone can access the services that we all rely on.”
Fiona Cannon, Group Sustainable Business Director for Lloyds Banking Group, said:
“As we continue to play our part in helping Britain recover it is important that we continue our work to be a more inclusive organisation. The Mental Health Accessible accreditation demonstrates our continued commitment to raising mental health awareness and has enabled us to drive improvements that better support all our customers.”
Halifax goes digital to take hassle out of content insurance
Two-thirds (62%) of UK renters risk not being able to replace their possessions if they were damaged or stolen because they do not have contents insurance.
This is against a backdrop of increasing numbers of renters overall. The number of households renting in the UK has risen from 2.8 million in 2007 to 4.5 million in 2017, an increase of 63%, according to the Office of National Statistics.
Young renters are especially at risk, with research from Halifax Home Insurance showing that while 42% of 25-34 year-olds rent their home, three quarters (70%) of this group do not have contents insurance in place.
The biggest turn off for renters is the perceived cost of cover, with 40% identifying this as the major blocker. The next turn off is that people don’t think their possessions are worth enough to insure them (26% of renters).
Halifax has worked with US fintech firm Trov to launch a simple and lower-cost insurance product, Halifax Renters Insurance, which offers:
Insurance against lower sums – traditional contents insurance policies tend to cover £75,000 – £100,000 as standard but this is more than most renters require. Renters’ Insurance will protect contents up to £10,000.
Ability for users to insure individual items whenever they want, turning protection on or off at the touch of a button.
Online access and management throughout, meaning it’s much simpler for customers to take out cover.Monthly subscriptions, allowing customers to get cover when they need it without being tied into a contract. “Renters can easily fall into the trap of taking out individual insurance for only their prized possessions, such as a phone and laptop, but not taking out contents insurance as they don’t see the benefit of traditional policies. But when the cost of these individual insurance policies is added up, people can end up spending more on several policies than on a single contents insurance policy which would cover more than just those items. Working with Trov, we’re taking the hassle out of home insurance for renters, giving them peace of mind that their belongings are covered should the worst happen”, said Jeremy Ward, Head of Home Insurance at Halifax.
Halifax introduces new card freeze options for credit card customers
Halifax customers now have a greater range of options to control where and how they use their credit card.
From today customers will be able to access ‘card freeze’ through their mobile app, allowing them to stop their credit card being used in a number of different ways.
Flexible and dynamic, Card Freeze lets customers choose which types of transactions are allowed from their Halifax app. Customers who may have mislaid their card, at home or abroad, can simply “freeze card” transactions. Once they find it, they can just “unfreeze” with ease.
Customers can also exercise greater control over any additional cards, avoiding unexpected spending sprees and choosing which transactions can or can’t be made on all cards linked to their account, including online purchases.
These new options are in addition to the control services introduced for debit cards in August 2018, which allow debit card customers to freeze usage abroad, online and remote, and freeze at tills or terminals.
Customers will see information pop-up on how to make use of the new functionality when they log in to their mobile app. These features are easy to use, simply “switching” on or off the buttons in the card management area of their mobile app.
Freeze card: Stops all card based transactions
Freeze abroad: Stops all point of sale transactions and ATM withdrawals outside of the UK
Freeze online and remote: Stops all transactions where the card is not physically present
Freeze at tills and terminals: Stops transactions where the card is present
Freeze at cash machine: Stops cash machine withdrawals
Elyn Corfield, Managing Director Consumer Finance, says: “Through our new mobile banking app functionality, Halifax customers can enjoy greater confidence that their cards are safe and now have more options to manage their day to day finances through freezing and unfreezing spending on their credit card, giving them extra peace of mind.”