Following the release of the latest ONS consumer price inflation figures, we have a comment from MorganAsh.

19 April 2023

MorganAsh has developed the MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) to help brokers, advisers and financial services firms better manage and evaluate consumer vulnerability and comply with Consumer Duty.

Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh said: “It’s certainly encouraging to see inflation returning to its downward path. However, there may well be some concerns that inflation didn’t drop by as much as economists expected. While the majority were hoping to see the rate of CPI fall to 9.8%, it still remains just above 10%.

“Although it’s progress and the CPIH – which includes owner occupiers’ housing costs, also eased to 8.9%, we still could be some way from people feeling like they have greater control over their household finances. That’s especially true as food costs remain a key contributor to inflation. It will be interesting to see how the Bank of England reacts to this news when the MPC next meets in April, with another rise already priced in by many of the markets.

“The percentages are moving in the right direction, but just not fast enough for the most vulnerable of households. A sustained increase in real world costs and a potential rise in interest rates on the horizon could push more into this vulnerable category, a clear area of focus for firms with Consumer Duty. This expands the scope of vulnerability far beyond financial to include a broad range of issues such as health, lifestyle and relationship vulnerabilities.

“This will be a crucial time for lenders and brokers to ensure all borrowers are getting the advice and support they need. This all starts with monitoring vulnerability consistently.”