Banks to reach out to struggling customers as bills rise in April

Some of the UK’s biggest banks will be contacting customers they think are struggling with money as April brings a raft of hikes to household bills.

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.

Tom Snodgrass, the head of business management, financial support for Santander UK, said: “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 said.

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.

HSBC UK has a programme in place for proactively reviewing where hardship might be on the horizon... but we strongly encourage customers not to wait until they are in financial difficulty before seeking help

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.