The current system relies too heavily on customers in vulnerable circumstances being willing and able to repeat personal information to multiple companies. In energy and water, companies maintain the 3 Priority Services Register (PSR) to provide support to customers with additional communication, safety and access needs. Take-up of the PSR has increased in energy and water, though (at 13% of all households) take-up in water remains well below Ofwat’s estimate that half of households could be eligible. The system puts the burden on people in vulnerable circumstances to declare those circumstances to companies and ask for support; for example, the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) reports some good examples of water companies proactively putting people on social tariffs, but that this does not happen as standard. Customers are fearful about bringing their financial situation to their service providers’ attention, and consumers often have to tell multiple companies, and even multiple people and teams within the same company, of their circumstances, which adds to their distress. CCW research indicates that, during supply interruptions in Tunbridge Wells around Christmas 2025, half of the people on the PSR did not receive the help they expected during the incident. There are no PSR arrangements in telecoms, and Ofcom considers that the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade’s (BIST) proposal to establish a multi-sector share once register ‘could be really helpful’. recommendation a. Ofcom, Ofgem and Ofwat should set out a plan for encouraging companies to contact customers proactively to identify whether they should be registered for additional services, such as the PSR. b. BIST should implement a multi-sector ‘tell us once’ PSR approach, including expanding PSR coverage to the telecoms sector, by September 2028.