Summary of Financial Inclusion Policy Forum meeting April 2021
Published 8 June 2021
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The Financial Inclusion Policy Forum brings together leaders on financial inclusion to ensure collaboration across Government and with the sector. The Forum is co-chaired by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion. The Forum’s seventh meeting was held on 27 April 2021 as a video call.
1. Agenda items of the seventh meeting included:
- Updates and Forum discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on financial inclusion and people’s personal finances, one year after the outbreak;
- Presentations on access to contents insurance for low-income renters by guest speakers Gareth Hemming (Managing Director of Personal Lines, Aviva) and Jimmy Williams (CEO, Urban Jungle), followed by a discussion with Forum members.
2. Key themes of discussion included:
- Under the first agenda item, the Government, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) provided updates on the impact of the pandemic on financial inclusion. The FCA drew on findings from their Financial Lives Survey; MaPS presented the trends they have seen in their money guidance services and their plans to continue supporting individuals over the coming months.
- Forum members agreed that the pandemic has had a differentiated impact on consumers which is still unfolding: some have managed to save more as a result of falling expenditures, whilst the financial situation of others has deteriorated. Pre-existing financial inclusion and resilience before the pandemic were identified as key drivers of this divide.
- Some members agreed with MaPS that demand for debt advice is likely to increase when temporary government support schemes for the pandemic end later this year.
- Some members suggested that the government should consider carrying forward interventions, such as payment deferrals and overdrafts, that have worked well to support consumers during the pandemic.
- Under the second agenda item, members discussed solutions to improve access to contents insurance for people on low incomes. These include: promoting the use of advanced data and technology to capture granularity in individual experiences; helping low-income tenants get contents insurance for their homes; and encouraging social landlords and managing agencies to offer contents insurance more proactively.
- The Economic Secretary to the Treasury announced the establishment of a working group, led by the Association of British Insurers, to consider ways to promote access to contents insurance.