MorganAsh has added a new nurse support service to its MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS), to assist advisers in providing help to highly vulnerable clients.

The service has been incorporated within MARS and joins a suite of new upgrades, including appropriate treatments, or next steps, that are automatically triggered when customer vulnerabilities are detected.

MorganAsh suggested this could relieve advisers of the need to understand a multitude of potential vulnerabilities and treatments, allowing a firm’s vulnerability policies to be presented for each client at the point they are required.

The firm supports vulnerable consumers which initially included just those claiming on critical illness or income protection products but, more recently, has also included corporates whose employees are off work because of health and lifestyle issues.

“Cases which need assistance are typically the more complex ones, involving a combination of issues – be they health, lifestyle, family or workplace,” said MorganAsh managing director, Andrew Gething.

“When there is a single obvious issue, then consumers know what to do. But when there is a combination of issues, people struggle far more – and this is where our nurse support service really comes into its own.

“The first and most difficult task is to understand the real issues. Sometimes this takes several conversations; listening and probing is the most important nurse skill. Then, using counselling techniques, the consumer is helped to see the woods from the trees.”

The firm’s MARS tool allows firms to monitor vulnerable customers and to deliver good outcomes – as required by Consumer Duty. Through consistent assessments, businesses can identify vulnerability characteristics and generate an objective MARS resilience rating, which MorganAsh has likened to a credit score.

“Within MARS there is already a wide range of treatments and mitigation steps that advisers can use themselves,” added Gething. “We expect advisers to only need our nurse support services once or twice a year – and only when really needed – but it’s always available and a valuable safety net.

“Simple signposting may superficially appear to meet Consumer Duty regulations, but most professional advisers will want to assist clients more proactively at the time of need. Helping clients through such challenges is rarely forgotten – and nurtures long-term loyalty.”

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