Some of the UK’s biggest banks, including Santander, HSBC and NatWest, will be contacting customers they think are struggling with money to help as April bills rise.
Energy costs, water bills and council tax are some of the expenses which will be going up for many households.
High street banks have stepped up efforts in recent years to provide tools, resources and trained staff to help those in need of financial support, especially in response to the cost-of-living crisis when demand for services increased.
This also saw lenders getting in touch with customers they felt might be teetering on the edge of financial difficulty.
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Tom Snodgrass, the head of financial support for Santander UK, says: “We are committed to helping our customers through more challenging times, and would urge anyone who is feeling under pressure ahead of the upcoming April price increases – whether that be with their water bills, energy bills, or everyday finances – to talk to us as soon as possible so we can discuss the best solutions.”
The bank will be closely monitoring the impact of higher bills and may “proactively contact customers that are showing early signs of money struggles”, he says.
These customers may be pinpointed based on their overall balance at the end of their month, their mortgage repayments or if they are receiving benefits.
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HSBC also said it is prepared to contact customers when “hardship might be on the horizon”.
A spokesman said: “We know that finances continue to be squeezed by higher household bills, everyday costs and many people are feeling the pinch.
“HSBC UK has a programme in place for proactively reviewing where hardship might be on the horizon and helping prevent customers from falling into financial difficulty but we strongly encourage customers not to wait until they are in financial difficulty before seeking help.
“The earlier they can engage with us the better.”
The bank has had more than 300,000 visitors to its cost-of-living hub since launching it nearly three years ago, and about 155,000 people attending its financial wellbeing webinars since 2020.
There were some 2.4 million total customer interactions in 2024 through face-to-face contact, phone calls, and digital services.
One customer said he reached out to HSBC for help when he amassed as much as £20,000 worth of credit card debt.
Harry, 28, who did not want to share his full name, told the PA news agency: “I had a shopping issue, where I would go mad with the credit card and buy expensive designer stuff, and it spiralled out of control.”
He said he started taking out loans to try to pay off the credit card debt.
But after deciding one day to reach out to his bank, HSBC, its financial health check service put him in contact with a member of staff on the phone, where he “came clean” about his situation.
Harry was advised to immediately switch to a 0% balance transfer credit card and encouraged to change his lifestyle to stop overspending and adopt healthier money habits, which helped him eventually pay off the debts.
He said the help from HSBC was “invaluable” and would recommend it to anyone else, particularly young people who “want to be seen to have this champagne lifestyle, on a lemonade budget”.
Meanwhile, NatWest said it has seen positive saving habits from its customers in recent weeks.
It highlighted an 80% jump in people using the round-up savings feature on its app last month, compared with January – where each transaction is rounded up to the nearest pound and moved into a savings account.
The bank has also put in place extra measures to help customers in financial difficulty.
For example, it can:
- decide to freeze interest on forbearance measures, which are put in place for struggling borrowers
- or it can stop fees for customers that are being supported by its financial health teams.
Contact your bank for details.
Government urged to improve response to ‘world-beatingly high’ energy bills
Meanwhile, the Government should improve its response to future energy price spikes as Britons face “world-beatingly high” bills, Parliament’s spending watchdog said.
Electricity bills in 2023 were the highest among comparable countries, with consumers owing £3.7 billion for gas and electricity in 2024, more than double the amount in 2021, the Public Accounts Committee’s report said.
The PAC urged the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to improve support for households vulnerable to fuel poverty and create a clear plan and timeline for policy decisions to make bills cheaper.
Chairman of the committee Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “Sharp moves in energy prices in the future must find Government fully prepared to issue targeted and effective support, with those most in need the focus of that support.
“We cannot see a repetition of precious funds being beamed out across the spectrum to those who do not require help.
“This approach is all the more important when our report shows some households remain exposed, at a time when the UK’s electricity bills appear world-beatingly high and debt weighs down bill-payers’ finances to an alarming degree.”
An Ofgem spokesperson said: “We know the cost of energy is a huge challenge for many households.
“If anyone is worried about paying their bills, we urge them to contact their supplier or groups like Citizens Advice to make sure they’re getting all the help they can. Switching or fixing tariffs now, where possible, could also help consumers to bring costs down.
“We’ve introduced tougher rules to make sure energy companies do more to spot the signs when a customer may be struggling and step in to offer support, including working out affordable payment plans and providing emergency credit to reduce the risk of self-disconnection.
“We have also made pre-payment meters the cheapest way to pay for energy, and are consulting on plans to introduce a scheme that could provide direct support to those struggling with unmanageable levels of debt.
“We continually monitor the service suppliers are providing to their customers and where they are falling short, we hold them to account. However, the issue of debt is one that requires action from everyone across the sector and government.”
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A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “Our mission for clean power is the only way to protect UK billpayers from future price shocks.
“The 2022-23 energy crisis, which saw sky-high energy bills and put pressure on households and businesses across the country, was a product of our reliance on gas for heating and powering our homes. We will bring down bills for good by moving towards a clean, homegrown power system that we control.
“We are also rolling out support for consumers, including through proposals to expand the Warm Home Discount to almost three million more households next winter, and allocating £1.8 billion of funding to create warmer, more energy-efficient homes across England.”
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