Economic abuse is far more common than many in financial services realise. It rarely ends when a relationship ends – and is linked to the most severe outcomes of domestic abuse, including homicide and suicide. This webinar explains what economic abuse is, how it becomes visible to financial services firms, and how to respond safely and well.
The session opens with a survivor sharing their lived experience of economic abuse – what happened, where professionals could have noticed, and what they would ask firms to do differently.
We then explore how economic abuse is defined, how it traps victims, and why the FCA's vulnerability guidance and the Consumer Duty make identifying and supporting these customers a core obligation.
We look at the warning signs firms should look for in conversations, on customers’ accounts and in policies; how digital journeys can help people disclose abuse; and what good escalation, referral and firm-wide policy look like.
Speakers include Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, founder and CEO of the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, Johnny Timpson OBE, Financial Inclusion Commissioner and member of the FCA's Financial Services Consumer Panel, and a survivor of economic abuse sharing their lived experience.
What economic abuse is – restriction, exploitation and sabotage – and why it's broader than financial abuse
A survivor's first-hand account of economic abuse, and the lessons for professionals
Why economic abuse often escalates after separation – and how "economic entrapment" stops people leaving
The links between economic abuse, domestic homicide and suicide – and why spotting it may be a safeguarding issue
The warning signs firms can spot in conversations, accounts, policies and claims
How digital assessments can surface abuse that would never emerge on a phone call
What to do – and what never to do – when a front-line colleague suspects abuse
The policies, training and record-keeping firms need under the Consumer Duty and GDPR
Dr Nicola Sharp-Jeffs OBE, CF
Founder and CEO of the charity Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA) – the only UK charity dedicated to raising awareness of economic abuse and transforming responses to it. A graduate of London Metropolitan University’s Woman and Child Abuse MA, Nicola founded SEA in 2017. The charity’s work has been highlighted on BBC Breakfast and in the New York Times and The Guardian. Nicola was awarded an OBE in 2020 for services to victims of domestic and economic abuse and won the 2021 Charity Times Rising Leader of the Year Award.
Johnny Timpson OBE
Johnny is a highly regarded industry expert with more than forty years’ experience within the insurance and protection sectors. He holds numerous positions, including as Financial Inclusion Commissioner and as a member of the FCA’s Financial Services Consumer Panel. He is also a member of GAIN, the Group for Autism, Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity, BIBA Access to Insurance Committee and the Building Resilient Households Group. In addition, he is a founding member of the Financial Resilience Taskforce, an Age Irrelevance Ambassador and a Grief Chat Ambassador.