Vital Signs

Over the course of the last few years, considerable progress has been made in driving up the standards of government debt collection, including the creation of the Enforcement Conduct Board, an oversight body for enforcement action.

Since its launch in 2021, the Board has made considerable progress in producing a new set of National Standards to supervise enforcement action and a new complaints function. Included in this work is the discussion of when a consumer might be considered vulnerable and how the collection of their debt ought to be tailored in response to their vulnerability.

Consumer vulnerability can be defined as specific traits and characteristics that make a consumer especially susceptible to harm. In this paper, we use version 2 of the FCA’s vulnerability algorithm to explore the prevalence and depth of vulnerability amongst households who fall behind on their council tax. We find that UK adults who fall behind on their council tax show heightened levels of vulnerability compared to the general public on every driver of vulnerability. On each driver, UK adults who fall behind on their council tax show at least double the rate of vulnerability.

Drawing this work together, we believe understanding the extent of vulnerability amongst the population of adults who fall behind on their council tax can provide government and firms a greater insight into the complexity of the collection process and ensure the right support package is put in place to help consumers manage their debts and organise repayment.