IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vulnerable people say ‘stop making us repeat ourselves’ to essential services firms
11 March 2026
- People with mental health problems are missing out on life-changing support from banks, energy companies and water firms, because they have no easy and accessible way to disclose their support needs with multiple services.
- That’s leading to worse financial outcomes and unnecessary distress according to new research by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute – the charity founded and chaired by Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert – see quote from Martin below).
- The charity is urging government to work with regulators to create a ‘Share Once’ support system, to offer people a safe and easy one-stop shop for disclosing their needs to all the essential services they deal with – and shows that there is strong public support for this call.
Money and Mental Health’s research shows that many people with mental health problems struggle to use services like banking, energy and telecoms – in large part because common symptoms such as reduced memory or concentration make it more challenging to engage with companies.
Essential services often offer extra support for people experiencing these difficulties, from enabling people to record their condition and communications preferences, or to set up notifications about their account to a trusted third person.
While this support can be transformative, the research warns that the vast majority of people who could benefit from it are missing out, because of the barriers they face in disclosing their support needs in the first place. Past national polling commissioned by the charity showed that only 14% of people with mental health problems have disclosed their mental health condition to their financial services provider, while only 12% have disclosed to their energy provider (1).
Factors driving these low disclosure rates include the high emotional toll involved in sharing sensitive information about support needs, especially to multiple companies. People who took part in Money and Mental Health research also reported concerns about a lack of clear and easy ways to disclose this information to service providers.
These barriers are causing avoidable stress for people already struggling with their mental health, and resulting in worse financial outcomes for this group, who typically pay £1,550 more annually for essential services like energy and telecoms (2).
The need for a ‘Share Once Support Register’
The research highlights that a number of systems exist to allow people to share information about their needs with different service providers, but that these are fragmented, do not cover all essential services and take different approaches to data sharing (3).
In 2024 the Department of Business and Trade set out plans for a more comprehensive ‘Share Once Support Register’, through which people could disclose their extra support needs and have that information shared across different essential services – therefore reducing the distress involved in sharing this information, and better enabling people to get additional support from services providers.
Those plans have stalled under the current government but Money and Mental Health’s research shows that there is strong public appetite for this kind of system. National YouGov polling commissioned by the charity shows that:
- 46% of the general public said they would be likely to use a service to share their needs across essential service providers if they were in a situation where they needed extra support.
- This rises to over half (53%) of people who have experienced a mental health problem in the last 2 years, compared to 29% of who said they would be unlikely to use this system (4).
Alongside this, Money and Mental Health also undertook a survey of 214 people with lived experience of mental health problems. Many participants highlighted the distress caused by having to repeatedly disclose their mental health conditions to different essential services, and the positive difference that a Share Once Support Register could make in reducing that strain. One participant said:
““Sharing once would make my life immensely better. It gets extremely stressful and negatively affects my mental and physical health having to tell a company all of this every time.”
However, research participants also highlighted concerns about what level of control over their personal information they would have with a Share Once system, and how their data would be stored. People also expressed worries that information provided through this system could be used by service providers to restrict access to a product or service (for example, access to credit or insurance).
These factors highlight the importance of embedding consent, control and transparency at the heart of a Share Once system to ensure it truly meets the needs of people using it, and guarantees the best outcomes for them.
What needs to change
Money and Mental Health is calling for government, regulators and essential service providers to work together to build a comprehensive ‘Share Once’ system to make it easier for people with mental health problems to safely disclose their needs to multiple services providers, while also protecting people’s privacy and autonomy. The charity’s recommendations include:
- The Department for Business and Trade should restart plans for a ‘Share Once Support Register’ covering all essential services sectors (e.g. banking, energy, telecoms and water).
- Regulators of these sectors should work with consumer groups and people with lived experience of mental health problems to map out what support is already in place for customers in vulnerable circumstances and how information about people’s needs could be easily shared through the ‘Share Once Support Register’.
- Government and regulators should mandate essential service providers to help people share their support needs, and to ensure that other people who don’t want to disclose their condition via a Share Once system are still supported to access essential services.
- Government and regulators should also introduce a redress mechanism such as a data ombudsman, to protect people against misuse of data by companies.
Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert), who is Chair and Founder of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said:
“The government has a Tell Us Once system for when someone dies, yet we lack the same for those who are alive and struggling. That makes no sense. We need a single simple system that can work across essential services like banks, energy and water firms, and government systems too – whichever people choose.
“Right now, a vulnerable person in the middle of a mental (or physical) health crisis may have to call firm after firm, and government agencies on top, repeating the same painful, possibly embarrassing or triggering explanation again and again. In a digital age where data sharing is simple, that feels almost cruel.
“Of course safeguards and informed consent are essential, people must have control of their data. But it is time we stopped focusing on using data to just drive profit and started using it to drive compassion.”
Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said:
“Creating a one-stop shop for people with mental health problems to easily and securely share their needs with services could be life-changing. Plucking up the courage to tell your bank or energy company that you’re struggling can be stressful, and in many cases just more than people can manage – now imagine navigating that phone call five or more times with different services. As things stand, people who are struggling are often left facing extra costs and unnecessary distress, because the barriers to getting help from essential services are too great.
“The promise is huge, and there is clearly public appetite for this kind of system – if it’s done securely and safely with appropriate government and regulatory oversight. We’re urging the government to seize this opportunity as part of its efforts to reduce cost of living pressures.
“It’s also vital that any system to help people share this kind of sensitive data is built around the needs and concerns of those who would actually use it. That means designing the system to give people consent, control and transparency over how their data is used, and putting in place robust redress mechanisms to protect individuals from misuse of their data.”
This independent research is funded by the Aviva Foundation. Money and Mental Health retain full editorial independence.
ENDS
Contact:
For media enquiries, please contact Alex Goodfellow, External Affairs Officer at Money and Mental Health, on 07754 446272 or [email protected]
Notes to Editors
(1) Online survey of 5,001 people with experience of mental health problems and 1,000 people without mental health problems, conducted by Opinium, 25 June – 22 July 2021.
(2) ‘The Mental Health Premium’, Citizens Advice, 2019
(3) Existing systems include
- the Vulnerability Registration Service
- Experian’s Support Hub
(4) Money and Mental Health analysis of YouGov online polling of 2,054 UK adults, carried out 11-12 December 2025. Data is weighted to be nationally representative of all UK adults (aged 18+)
About the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute
The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute is an independent charity set up by Martin Lewis, and committed to breaking the link between financial difficulty and mental health problems. We conduct research, develop practical policy solutions and work in partnership with both those providing services and those using them to find what really works. www.moneyandmentalhealth.org.
About Aviva Foundation
The Aviva Foundation aims to support people across the UK by funding practical solutions to today’s challenges and investing in long-term change. The Foundation’s Financial Futures Fund partners with organisations that are striving to help people feel more secure, confident, and in control of their finances, now and in the future. The Aviva Foundation is a Donor Advised Fund, administered by Charities Trust under charity registration number 327489.