Vulnerability and Consumer Duty Academy – Spring 2025

Latest news

The FCA has recently urged firms to "open up" and provide better support for vulnerable customers. This announcement underscores the urgent need for robust vulnerability practices within financial services. Our award-winning Vulnerability and Consumer Duty Academy is designed to empower you to put vulnerability at the heart of your customer service, ensuring you meet and exceed FCA expectations, and enhance customers outcomes in vulnerable circumstances.

Empowering you to put vulnerability at the heart of customer service

Join our expert-led programme to strengthen your organisation’s approach to consumer protection. it. It provides you with real-world case studies, interactive workshops, and actionable tools to help you drive improvements in your business practices and improve outcomes for customers in vulnerable circumstances across your teams. Whether you’re responsible for policy, customer care, or compliance, this Academy is designed to help you meet FCA expectations while prioritising customer needs.

Hear from past participants:

I really enjoyed how the Academy was centred around the FCA guidance, having the weeks broken into the different focusses. The quality of the speakers that delivered sessions was brilliant and they all brought something different.
… It's enhanced my understanding of the expectations around vulnerable customers and has given me great ideas and direction for what to introduce at my bank.

Ready to take action?

Explore the full programme details (PDF)

How to book:

Book using the Book now button on the side of this page – Don’t miss out, spaces are limited.
Need help deciding? Contact us for more information or group booking options.

Why should you attend?

gain a deep understanding of the FCA’s Consumer Duty and vulnerability requirements
learn from industry leaders with real-world insights and practical solutions
develop strategies to identify, support, and respond to vulnerable customers
apply your learning through interactive exercises and case studies
connect with peers to share best practices and experiences.

What you’ll learn:

This Academy covers:

understanding consumer vulnerability and regulatory expectations
identifying vulnerable customers and effective communication techniques
embedding vulnerability policies across your organisation
handling disclosures with sensitivity and confidence

The Vulnerability and Consumer Duty Academy has been rewarded City & Guilds Assured status.

City & Guild Assured logo and Excellence in Training CSS awards logo

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Area of expertise:

Capital markets & wholesale Unsecured Consumer Credit Commercial finance Economic crime Mortgages Payments, innovation & resilience Personal banking Prudential risk, reporting and tax Sustainability

Zoe Medlock

Customer Vulnerability Expert, Money Advice Trust

Zoe Medlock is an expert in consumer vulnerability strategy and implementation. With over ten years’ experience in the sector, Zoe now works with the ...

Zoe Medlock is an expert in consumer vulnerability strategy and implementation. With over ten years’ experience in the sector, Zoe now works with the Money Advice Trust team to help firms improve their approach to customer vulnerability. This includes assessing firms against the FCA's evolving expectations and developing and delivering colleague training.

Zoe specialises in mental health and, as well as working with the Money Advice Trust, she also supports the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute to assess firms against their Mental Health Accessible Standard. In 2020 Zoe developed the Trust’s Mental Health training.

Colin Trend

Lead Trainer, Money Advice Trust

Colin is the lead tutor with the Money Advice Trust on their vulnerability programme, assisting both in the UK and overseas. With Chris Fitch, he co-a...

Colin is the lead tutor with the Money Advice Trust on their vulnerability programme, assisting both in the UK and overseas. With Chris Fitch, he co-authored the Trust’s vulnerability guidance for advice agencies, launched by the charity with the backing of a range of organisations across the advice sector in June 2016.

Chris Fitch

Vulnerability Lead Consultant, Money Advice Trust

He is Vulnerability Lead at the Money Advice Trust and a Research Fellow at the Personal Finance Research Centre, University of Bristol. Previou...

He is Vulnerability Lead at the Money Advice Trust and a Research Fellow at the Personal Finance Research Centre, University of Bristol. Previously he was Head of Policy and Research Fellow at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

The programme that Chris leads aims to result in outputs which are ‘short on the obvious, and long on the practical’ – and with colleagues, he has written practical guidance for firms and staff on both effectively working with customers who are in vulnerable situations, and also looking after their own wellbeing and working environment following such contact.

In 2017, Chris was named in Credit Strategy’s Top 50 influencers in the creditor sector, and in 2015 he received the Martin Williams award for contribution to the UK credit industry (awarded each year by Credit Today) for the programme’s work on mental health, vulnerability, and financial services.

Money Advice Trust

The Money Advice Trust is a charity helping people across the UK to tackle their debts and manage their money with confidence. The Trust runs National...

The Money Advice Trust is a charity helping people across the UK to tackle their debts and manage their money with confidence. The Trust runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, and also provides training and consultancy to creditors across sectors on identifying and supporting customers in vulnerable circumstances.

Who should attend:

Specialist vulnerability colleagues
Risk and control decision makers
Human resource and learning and development professionals
Managers responsible or working in contact centres
Any lending firm that is FCA regulated
Compliance leads and Regulatory Managers
Customer Care and Support Managers
Customer Experience and Advocacy Leaders
Vulnerability and Inclusion Specialists
Operations and Process Managers
Learning and Development and HR
Senior Management and Leadership
Legal

Anyone working in or with:

Commercial Finance
Prudential Risk
Mortgage lenders
Card issuers
Banks
Credit unions
Payment providers
Wealth Managers
Building Societies
Loan providers
Sustainability

About the Academy:

The Vulnerability and Consumer Duty Academy was created by the Money Advice Trust’s Chris Fitch, Colin Trend, and Zoe Medlock. It is built around case studies and presentations from leading practitioners, lived experts, and firms across financial services (and beyond) and is supported by facilitated analysis of approaches already being taken in practice.

The Academy includes a coursework review for participants with the aim of helping participants embed vulnerability throughout the culture, policies, and relevant customer journeys of their organisations.

The content is always evolving to keep it relevant to what is happening in the industry right now. Within this academy, we will include sessions on financial vulnerability, cost of living, financial well-being, economic abuse, disability, addiction, and other areas. We also have specialist sessions on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within financial services and digital channel servicing and vulnerability.

Vulnerability remains a top priority for the FCA. The regulator is currently reviewing the industry’s progress in the implementation of its guidance on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers and Consumer Duty, and new findings, released 7 March 2025.

2024 also saw the launch of the new ISO Standard on the design and delivery of inclusive services (ISO 22458). The Vulnerability Academy is an extensive training programme that gives participants the knowledge and insight to meet the key requirements of the regulator as well as the new ISO Standard, giving participants the understanding required to translate the FCA’s expectations into reality.