Mental health support is “limited, inconsistent and patchy” according to new research from Citizens Advice. Energy and telecoms were rated the worst sectors for customer service and additional support, while water companies were seen most favourably.
The research was conducted in response to a surge in the number of people with mental health problems seeking help with utilities and communications issues from Citizens Advice.
Among the findings, the research found cases of people being promised extra support with meter readings from their energy provider and never receiving it.
But despite being rated lowest of the four essential service markets, the survey also found awareness was highest with regards to the support schemes on offer in the energy sector specifically.
Of these, financial support is the best-known type of support, including the Warm Home Discount and the Cold Weather Payment. Around a third of participants had heard of the phrase “a Warm Home Discount” but didn’t necessarily know how it works and how much the discount would be.
Much fewer could recall the Cold Weather Payment scheme. Amongst those who could recall it there was an assumption that it is for older people specifically. It found there is also an assumption that “additional support” just means financial support, such as money off the bill, being given a discount or being put on a lower tariff.
Following the research, Citizens Advice is now calling for minimum standards to be set for mental health support across all essential service providers.
Citizens Advice says people with mental health problems should be able to expect:
- Access to well trained, specialist customer support
- Priority repairs of faulty or broken equipment
- Not to be prematurely disconnected due to lack of payment
- Any arrears or debts will be dealt with in-house, rather than being sold on, taken to court or dealt with by a third party.
Citizens Advice is also calling for companies across different markets to develop ways of safely recording information about vulnerable customers’ needs in order to provide better support.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Companies need to help their customers with mental health problems rather than adding to their struggles.
“We found that support to manage essential services is either non-existent, hard to find or sub-standard, varying widely between sectors and companies. People with mental health problems deserve the same levels of extra care as any other vulnerable group, like the physically disabled or the elderly.”
She added: “Stronger standards would make sure they have access to sympathetic customer support and don’t have their mobile or energy suddenly cut off because of a missed payment.”
Responding to the findings, Energy UK’s chief executive Lawrence Slade, said: “How best to identify and support customers in vulnerable circumstances is a challenging issue for anyone providing services to the public – however energy companies are committed to doing all they can, including for customers with mental health problems.”