Lee Healey, CEO and founder of IncomeMax, dicusses on affordability, vulnerability, income maximisation and the future of customer support in financial services. It explores how the cost of living, low income, health issues and changing social conditions are affecting households, and considers what financial institutions and government should do in response.
A major theme is the balance between human support and digital innovation, including the use of AI to scale customer service while preserving empathy, judgement and inclusion. Overall, institutions can design more humane, effective and resilient support systems for customers facing financial strain.
Find out more about Income Max -> Here.
Key Take Aways
- Affordability pressure is not new, but the current environment has intensified it into a broader systemic strain affecting working households, carers, single parents and people with health challenges.
- A central issue is that people miss out on billions of pounds of financial support each year, pointing to a persistent gap between entitlement and access.
- Economic pressure is increasingly affecting people in work, not only those out of work, suggesting that employment alone is no longer a sufficient proxy for financial resilience.
- The traditional “social contract” of education, work, home ownership and stability is perceived to be under strain, particularly for younger generations.
- Vulnerability should be treated as a normal human condition rather than a niche customer segment; the practical question is what support a person needs and how services can flex around that need.
- For financial services firms, the imperative is clear: deliver fair, responsible products and services, and ensure support mechanisms activate when customers face hardship.
- Digital journeys are increasingly expected by customers, but fully automated models risk missing context, nuance and emotional complexity.
- The strongest model is not human versus digital, but a blended service design in which digital handles scale and convenience while humans provide empathy, judgement and reassurance.
- Good customer outcomes depend not just on the tool used, but on the overall process design, including escalation routes, accessibility and support for those who struggle to self-serve.
- AI is already proving useful in intake, triage and productivity enhancement, particularly in gathering customer details, flagging vulnerability and supporting multilingual interactions.
- Moving AI from administrative support into advice delivery is seen as the next frontier, but one that carries meaningful risk and therefore requires controlled piloting and strong training discipline.
- The broader call to action is for institutions, including government and financial services, to focus on the basics: enough income, accessible support, inclusive service design and a more humane customer experience.
Innovatation
IncomeMax describes a deliberately hybrid model that combines human advisers with AI-enabled digital journeys rather than replacing one with the other.
The firm has developed “Max”, an AI capability initially used to capture customer details, support multilingual engagement, recognise signs of vulnerability and prioritise cases requiring faster human intervention.
A notable idea is the use of conversational AI to replicate elements of adviser dialogue, with the ambition of extending from intake into guided advice while preserving access to human support when needed.
The discussion also highlights co-design and systems thinking as innovation disciplines: services should be designed with internal teams and customers, with built-in safeguards to prevent customers falling through gaps.
Another emerging technique is the integration of multiple channels, including video, email, phone and digital interfaces, to create a more adaptive service journey around individual needs.
Finally, the firm’s AI approach appears to rely on domain-specific training layered on top of a large language model, using adviser conversations, processes and anonymised case data so the tool remains focused on its intended purpose.
Key Statistics
- People miss out on billions of pounds of financial support every year.
- IncomeMax was founded 16 years ago.
- The founder has been helping families through the benefits system for over three decades.
- There are said to be heading towards a million young people not in education, work or training.
- IncomeMax was founded in 2009.
- IncomeMax now has 45 full-time staff.
- It can take over a year for an IncomeMax adviser to become qualified.
- Max has been used by thousands of customers to begin their journey.
Key Discussion Points
- The affordability challenge is structural and long-running, but current economic conditions have amplified hardship and insecurity.
- Financial distress increasingly affects employed customers, indicating that earnings alone do not guarantee stability.
- Young people appear especially anxious about their future, with uncertainty around education, careers, housing and family formation.
- Financial services has a duty to provide products that are supportive, responsible and capable of adapting when life circumstances change.
- Personalisation has declined in many service models as branches have closed and automation has expanded.
- Human interaction remains essential in complex, emotional or legally intricate situations, especially where customers need explanation and reassurance rather than just an answer.
- The most effective service model is likely to combine self-service convenience with human escalation and empathy.
- Service design should be co-created and tested to ensure that digital channels do not exclude vulnerable customers.
- Vulnerability should be understood through support needs rather than labels, with firms building inclusive and flexible treatments around those needs.
- Benefits and support systems will remain complex because they are rule-based and legally grounded, so customers need multiple ways to engage.
- AI can improve productivity and reach, but advice automation requires caution because the risks are materially higher than for intake or triage.
- Across sectors, the larger ambition should be to strengthen the foundations that allow people to live well: income, support, dignity, access and trust.
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