Changing tack: Making essential services inclusive and equitable for all
The third blog in our series on officialdom comes from a special guest writer: Sohaib Malik, Policy & Communications Officer at Fair By Design, who brings his thoughts on how the principles of inclusive design have a part to play in making essential services more accessible for all.
As we approach the end of the year, I’m getting ready for my annual day spent online switching my energy, insurance, and broadband providers. However, as the current energy market crisis shows, switching — and being an engaged ‘super consumer’ — can still only get you so far. Similarly, home insurance quotes on comparison sites are more than I was previously paying, so not quite mission accomplished. I also have no idea about what information has been used to make the calculation. In short, the cost of everything is creeping up and I’m not sure I can switch my way out of it.
I am fortunate in that I can absorb a small increase in my household expenditure. But for many people on low incomes, they don’t have this slack in their budget. They’re already paying more than better-off households for their essentials.
They might be on a prepayment meter for their energy, or on a standard tariff rather than the best deal — being penalised for not having the time, ability or means to shop around. It could be that their insurance provider considers where they live as ‘higher-risk’ and so charge them more for car insurance or even refuse coverage. What’s especially worrying in this case is that holding car insurance is a legal requirement. It isn’t exactly easy to move to an area deemed less risky by an insurer. Others go without insurance, seeing contents insurance as a luxury for example, but paying more down the line when things go wrong.
That’s where ‘officialdom’ comes in. In part one of this blog series, Rachel, our colleague at CAP introduced the concept, describing it as “systems, structures and culture of organisations that create problematic power dynamics.” For Fair By Design, officialdom is the disconnect between policymakers and people’s lived experiences, including of poverty and exclusion, and how this leads to groups being treated unfairly.
The poverty premium will only get worse as people’s needs aren’t taken into account in the design of markets. This is especially the case for those on low incomes or in other vulnerable situations.
It’s particularly urgent to address this issue at a time of huge change in many essential services markets. For example, the current transition to decarbonisation in domestic energy and the need to change how we heat our homes. Or the advent of ‘Open’ banking and the increasing ability of insurers’ to access more and new forms of personal data to assess risk.
We need to make sure that access to essential services does not come with high price tags for the people who can least afford them.
Instead of relying on quantitative data, and basing big policy decisions on “average” consumers, both regulators and firms in essential services markets should start by talking to people with additional needs. They need to be exposed to people ‘not like them’, rather than simply relying on secondary research to ‘put themselves in the shoes’ of consumers, in order to truly shake off biases and assumptions.
They should look to understand people’s experiences and how these might put them at a disadvantage. In other words, what are they vulnerable to, and why? Let’s not forget that most of us in our lifetime will experience some form of vulnerability, such as job loss, illness, or bereavement.
By starting with people where they are, and co-designing with them, the best solutions can be found. Doing so not only helps these consumers but also leads to markets, products, and services that work better for all consumers too. This is inclusive design.
It is the first step in a journey towards more inclusive markets. It will also help identify where government needs to intervene in the market to ensure protection for the most vulnerable. For example, a price cap on energy tariffs, or looking at how people can access the insurance products they need at a price that they can afford.
The next blog in this series will look at what happens when the systems designed to help you end up letting you down, and how this affects the trust we put in those services.
Interested in reading more? Our whole series on the subject of officialdom is available here.
