Tough calls

How Nationwide supports its vulnerable customers

- Hilary Osborne

The woman at the other end of the line sounds frantic. She's been ill and needs help sorting out some payments, but when Meg from Nationwide calls, she starts to talk about other things that are on her mind. Less than half an hour later, she confides that she's thinking of suicide and has even worked out how and where she could do it.

On another day, a follow-up call to someone who reported being a fraud victim quickly takes a troubling turn. The woman's account has been used without her permission, but it was an abusive partner rather than an unknown scammer who was to blame.

When Nicky asks her to explain what's happened, she tells a harrowing story involving a sexual assault and years of financial and coercive control. She had thought her former partner was taking her phone to stop her from using it, but he was raiding her accounts.