Are providers doing enough to protect older clients?

This does not just apply to over 70's - there are many that are technologically deficient and disadvantaged. IT is getting more complex and layers and keeping up with it to a good usable standard is getting impossible. Even the simplest things can appear to be confusing and over complicated. It has been a complete shift of balance where companies shape their process as convenience to themselves and not the customer as the end user with little flexibility. Things have advanced at rapid speed so many of all ages can find it challenging.

It's not just financial services but a society wide problem. From bank branch closures to the threat to railway ticket offices to doctors appointment systems. The theory seems to be that if we can force everyone online and effectively outsource the administration to the user, it'll be cheaper to run. The problem is there are people across all walks of life who either can't or don't want to interact like that. They face being excluded from areas of society, which risks all sorts of problems down the line. Our leaders need to think beyond just costs but think about quality and value too.

I agree with Derek. For years, too much of financial services has treated vulnerability as a paperwork exercise: send the 10 page suitability report, tick the box, job done. That is not support.

If a 75 year old customer has to fight through an app, sit on hold for 40 minutes or navigate security processes designed around someone half their age, the system has failed before the conversation even starts.

The FCA is very clear that firms should deliver outcomes for vulnerable customers that are as good as those for everyone else, and Consumer Duty is supposed to move firms beyond compliance checklists. Yet too often the industry still designs for the easiest customer and then “accommodates” everyone else afterwards.

Older customers do not need sympathy. They need choice: telephone, paper, branch, digital, trusted person support and humans who actually pick up.

Accessibility is not a favour. It is part of doing the job properly.

I agree with Bradley that apps aren't always easy for some over-70s. But the real gap isn't the app. It shows up when someone else has to step in. Where a person is authorised to act for a customer, under a power of attorney for example, a firm covered by the FCA's Consumer Duty has to give that person the same level of support it would have given the customer. The FCA reviewed retail banks and found app and online banking often weren't available to attorneys, and that this looked like a spending decision rather than a technical limit. The alternative is sharing a login, and if money goes astray the customer can end up arguing about whether that was gross negligence. So no, in banking, providers aren't doing enough to protect older customers, because the design leaves them carrying the risk. Give the attorney their own access and there's no need to share a login.

For life insurance & other personal insurances, underwriting is often the bane of my existence.
Depending on your age, the standard requirements for underwriting (Medical checks) become increasingly more invasive, even for smaller sums of cover. Naturally, if someone is in good health this is never a problem however we often find with age often comes smaller health issues which may result in price increases, declines, non-standard cover only. This provides a massive barrier to entry for any older customers wanting to protect themselves.
I encourage all clients to arrange a good cover when they are as young as they are going to be (Always today!) to avoid any potential restrictions in the future - Especially with options of longer guaranteed terms, if required.