ISO 22458 does not ask you to keep a list of vulnerable customers. It asks that your people can recognise the signs, respond in a way that suits the person and learn from what happened. The case studies, the support providers and the monitoring are where that learning is kept.

Effective Excel Registers

Part of the alphaZ ER series of Excel registers, built for records that grow over time. Supplied in fully editable MS Excel format, with all text in Calibri font for improved readability.
The register is set up with:

• Separate worksheets for risk intelligence, case studies, support providers and monitoring
• Risk rating and frequency drop-downs on the monitoring sheet
• Conditional formatting to highlight moderate and substantial risk ratings
• An Instructions sheet explaining what each worksheet is for

alphaZ documents - tried and tested registers with no junk, jargon or unnecessary columns, developed over 25 years through practical use in the real world.

Further Reading

Further guidance on consumer vulnerability:

• Consumer Vulnerability
• Consumer Vulnerability Risk Management
• ISO 22458 Clause 8 - Responding to Consumer Vulnerability
• ISO 22458 knowledge base

How to Download

To get access to this file please click on Add to Cart to purchase for immediate download. If you have an alphaZ Subscription just click on Download Files to view all the files available to download. This register is also included in the ISO 22458 Toolkit, so if you need the wider set of documents for inclusive service and consumer vulnerability the toolkit route gives you this file plus everything else you need in one download.

Need Help Implementing?

If you'd like a hand setting up the monitoring programme, reviewing case studies with your frontline teams, or with your wider ISO 22458 arrangements, our remote support services provide direct expert input from our team, by the day, by project, or on an ongoing basis.

Consumer Vulnerability Register Template

A consumer vulnerability register template in Microsoft Excel for the information behind your approach to consumer vulnerability: the intelligence that points to where customers may be at risk, anonymised case studies of real interactions, the support organisations you can refer people to, and an overview of your monitoring activity.

ISO 22458 sets out requirements and guidelines for designing and delivering inclusive service, including identifying consumer vulnerability, responding to it, and monitoring, evaluating and improving how you do both. The register keeps the working records for that in one place, and the evidence it holds is the kind looked at when an organisation's arrangements under the standard are assessed.

What's Included in this Consumer Vulnerability Register

• Risk Research - current research, intelligence or information relevant to vulnerability in your existing or potential customer base, with the date added, the source, the details and whether it affects your vulnerability risks. Sources are prompted from inside the organisation, such as issues logged, frontline staff feedback and internal audits, and from outside, such as significant events and customer feedback.
• Case Studies Actions - anonymised or pseudonymised interactions where vulnerability was suspected or known: the trigger or signs, the possible causes and solutions, the action taken and how effective it was.
• Advice Support Providers - the third-party organisations that can help vulnerable consumers, what they offer, notes on when to refer, and their contact details.
• Monitoring - a summary of monitoring activity with a risk rating, responsibility, frequency and notes, started with suggested activities covering areas such as customer touchpoints, accessibility, sales practice, contract terms, payments and billing, and complaints.
• Instructions - what each worksheet is for, and the lists behind the drop-downs.

Learning from Real Interactions

The case studies sheet is not a record of every vulnerable customer. It is an indicative sample of interactions, with personal details removed, kept so that your people can see what signs were noticed, what options there were and what worked. Over time it builds a practical picture of how vulnerability shows up in your own service and what a good response looks like.

The risk research sheet works alongside it. When new intelligence comes in, from a change in the economy, new legislation or feedback from frontline staff, it is logged with a note of whether it changes your assessment of vulnerability risk, so the risk register is updated for a reason you can point to.

Who Needs a Consumer Vulnerability Register?

Organisations that deal directly with consumers - energy and water suppliers, financial services, telecoms, housing providers, and many others - whether they are working towards ISO 22458 or simply want to show that customers in vulnerable circumstances are recognised and treated fairly.

Pairs with the Vulnerability Risks Register and Risk Assessment

The vulnerability risks themselves, with the controls set against them, are recorded on the F-IMS58 Vulnerability Risks Register, and the RA-CV1 Consumer Vulnerability Risk Assessment scores where customers could be harmed and the adjustments made. Individual concerns can be written up on the F-Q102 Vulnerable Consumer Report Form, and monitoring reviews recorded on the F-Q103 Consumer Vulnerability Monitoring Form.

Blank Template and Sample Data Version

This file is supplied blank, ready for your own information. A sample data version is included with an alphaZ subscription - the same register with a list of UK advice and support organisations and their referral notes already filled in, and an example monitoring entry, as a starting point for your own.