MorganAsh expands MARS platform to include customer vulnerability data for households
30 July 2024
MorganAsh, customer vulnerability specialist and support services provider to the financial services and utilities sectors, has added a powerful, new enhancement to the MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) to now present vulnerability data for households, as well as for individuals.
The new upgrade will better reflect vulnerabilities within families, with many financial decisions made for a family rather than for each individual separately. Mortgages, joint life insurance, property insurance and retirement planning are all typically undertaken for family units.
MARS provides an objective method to measure consumer characteristics, generating a Resilience Rating – much like a credit score. This enables individual data and family data to be collated in a consistent manner. With the new update, MARS now provides a combined Resilience Rating for each family member and for the household. This may include children and reflect, for example, a disabled child and caring responsibilities – as well as the vulnerability characteristics of the parents.
When circumstances change – such as if parents divorce, or one party moves into care – then this is reflected in the combined Resilience Rating for the family, as well as the individual. There is also the ability to move individuals to different family groups and premises.
The move will also help to solve intergenerational planning issues, enabling advisers to properly engage with the children or beneficiaries following the passing of their parents.
MARS tracks the Resilience Rating over years – for both individuals and households. Changes in the Resilience Rating for both households and individuals can be set to trigger specific actions and signposting depending on the circumstances and potential harms. Therefore, when circumstances or the household changes, this is then reflected in the Resilience Rating – and may trigger a prompt for some activity.
Often, financial planning is undertaken by one party in a couple – and, if they leave or pass away, they leave a vacuum in the understanding of previously agreed plans. Identifying the financial understanding and engagement of each party is a first step in being able to manage this situation.
Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, said: “Many financial transactions are undertaken on a family basis and often, family units compensate for the vulnerabilities of others. While an individual may well be resilient – they might also be caring for a disabled child or elderly relative; this can impact their own resilience and needs to be taken into account in any financial planning or servicing.
“This upgrade to MARS links this premises-level data with individual data – so both can be used and compared. This is an important step in progressing towards data portability and the sharing of vulnerability data between firms. Understanding and being able to monitor at both an individual and a household level reflects the real world and is a powerful new addition to the MARS platform.”
MorganAsh launched its award-winning MARS platform to help firms understand and monitor vulnerable customers and deliver good outcomes – as required by Consumer Duty. It is in use across the financial services and utilities sectors, enabling businesses to adopt a consistent approach to
identifying vulnerable characteristics and generate the necessary data and management information for monitoring and reporting purposes.
To find out more or access a free trial, visit: morganash.com/mars or phone: 0330 159 8162.
