The hidden risk inside every purchased portfolio

Guide to identify vulnerable customers before cost, conduct and recovery risk escalate

You price portfolios based on the data you’re given.
But what if that data is incomplete?

Our analysis of live debt purchaser portfolios reveals a level of hidden vulnerability that materially changes valuation, recovery strategy and Consumer Duty exposure.

In this practical guide, you’ll see what happens when real-world vulnerability indicators are layered onto a purchased book and why traditional acquisition data simply doesn’t show the full picture.

Download the guide to uncover the risk sitting inside your portfolio.

What the data really shows

When we overlaid live vulnerability indicators across debt purchaser portfolios, we found:

• 10% currently vulnerable

• 7.5% highly vulnerable

• 20% with a history of vulnerability never visible in bureau files

• 23% borrowing for emergencies

• 19% borrowing for essential bills

• 13% borrowing to plug short-term cashflow gaps

These indicators were entirely absent from acquisition data.

For senior leaders, that changes everything from pricing accuracy to cost-to-collect, from compliance exposure to operational routing.

This guide breaks down what this mean for your business.

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Why traditional data leaves you exposed

CRA files and historic account performance tell you where an account ended up.
They don’t show what was happening before default.

This creates risk across three critical areas:

Portfolio valuation

Hidden vulnerability distorts expected recoveries and skews pricing models.

Operational strategy

Without early identification, teams apply standard contact strategies to customers who require specialist handling.

Consumer Duty oversight

You can’t evidence proactive identification if you’re relying on static, retrospective indicators.

Regulators expect timely and proportionate support. That expectation doesn’t pause after acquisition.

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Inside the guide

You’ll learn:

• How vulnerability presents at scale when measured properly

• How the FCA’s four drivers map onto live debt books

• Why financial resilience is the dominant hidden risk

• How vulnerability impacts contact rates and payment behaviour

• What a strong vulnerability MI framework looks like

• How to evidence early identification under Consumer Duty

• How enhanced data changes acquisition, operations and governance decisions

By the end, you’ll see why vulnerability detection can’t be treated as a post-contact process.

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What this means for senior leaders

If even 20% of your customers carry vulnerability you didn’t know about, then:

• Your pricing assumptions may be optimistic

• Your recovery curves may be distorted

• Your compliance reporting may be incomplete

• Your governance narrative may lack evidence

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See what your acquisition data isn’t telling you

Vulnerability sits deeper and emerges earlier than traditional sources reveal.

The question is simple:

How confident are you that you can identify vulnerable customers before your teams make first contact — or before the FCA asks you to prove it?

Download the guide and see the data for yourself.