Citizens Advice Scotland
Citizens Advice Scotland Extra Help Unit provides support to vulnerable domestic consumers and micro-businesses across the UK with their energy complaints. They embarked on a technology challenge via CivTech Scotland to explore ‘How can technology help quickly identify and prioritise support for the people in the most vulnerable situations’.
Watch this video which explains the work of the Extra Help Unit and what a tool could mean to the organisation: CivTech Challenge 8.1 — Identifying and prioritising support — CivTech (8:07 minutes). You can choose to watch the entire video or view the segment from the beginning up to 5:16.
The Extra Help Unit partnered with HelpFirst to develop a tool that supports the triaging and prioritisation of cases. The tool highlights the cases most at risk. The tool is integrated within the Case Management System and uses AI to scan all notes and emails that come into the service. The tool works in real time, updating the case profile within 30 seconds using an LLM that scans through all the documentation adding a score to each case and flags for any risk factors. The scores are:
- S – Immediate Safeguarding.
- P1 – Priority 1.
- P2 – Priority 2.
- U – Urgent.
- C – Complaint (no risk).
| Score | Risk | Definition |
| S | Safeguarding risk | Is the client at risk of self-harm? For instance, do they mention suicidal thoughts or ideation? Do they imply they might do physical damage to themselves or to property? Do they reference wanting to ‘end it all’ or say it’s ‘not worth living’? |
| P1 | Off-supply risk (high) | Indicates that the client is currently off-supply, meaning there is a lack of electricity or gas supply in the property. This may be indicated by phrases such as ‘off-supply’, ‘disconnection’, or explicit mentions like ‘Is Consumer Off Supply: Y’ or ‘On/off supply: Off-supply’. |
| P2 | Off-supply risk (medium) | Indicates that the client is at risk of being off-supply soon. This includes scenarios where the client is on emergency credit (EMCR); is in friendly credit; has less than £10 positive credit on their meter or lacks access to electricity or gas for part of the day. These scenarios might be mentioned in the text as ‘customer is on emergency credit’, ‘£3.70 EMCR on the electric’, or ‘£6 reg credit’. |
| U | Urgency risk | Does the text mention ‘warrant’ or ‘legal proceedings’? Does the text state the term ‘urgent’ in the notes? Does the text refer to a date on which supply will be cut off if the consumer does not pay an amount of money or carry out a task for the supplier? Are bailiffs due to attend? |
| C | No risk detected | If no risk is detected, the case is scored ‘C’, indicating a standard complaint |
These are the LLM flags risk factors.
| Age | Is the client or a member of their household over state pension age (66)? |
| Dependents | Are there any children (i.e. people age between 5 and 18) in the premises? Do they care for someone with disabilities? |
| Equipment | Does the client have medical equipment that relies on gas/electricity? This might include the following: power wheelchairs or mobility devices, ventilators, oxygen concentrators, infusion pumps, intravenous or feeding equipment, chairlifts, stairlifts, communication devices, nebulisers, CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), BiPAP (bilevel positive airway pressure), suction pumps, dialysis machines, hoists, medical-related showering/bathing need, need to wash clothes (washing machine), electrolarynx, hospital bed. Medication that must be kept in the fridge such as insulin, eye drops, antibiotic liquids, etc. |
| Under 5 | Is there a baby present in the premises? Do they mention children under the age of 5? |
| Health | Is there evidence that the client’s mental health is poor (e.g. depression, schizophrenia). Is there evidence of physical health needs? This may include any physical health conditions or disabilities mentioned. |
| Safeguarding | Is there an active safeguarding issue? Please only output risk present if the case directly mentions domestic violence or states the words ‘active safeguarding issue’ or ‘safeguarding: y’ |
| Immediate safeguarding | Is the client at risk of self-harm? For instance, do they mention suicidal thoughts or ideation? Do they imply they might do physical damage to themselves or to property? Do they reference wanting to ‘end it all’ or say it’s ‘not worth living’? |
The scores appear on the dashboard and on the list of cases, it then helps the service with the prioritisation and triaging of cases.
It is important to stress that the normal processes used by the Extra Help Unit have not changed, the AI tool is only an aid.
Benefits seen by CAS include:
- It allows customers that are most in need to be triaged more quickly and provides those working in the service with the detail to target cases based on priority rather than on date order which was not available before.
- Managers can use the scores to allocate cases, and it will also highlight P2 and urgent cases at the list level – giving the service much greater insight into the cases.
- In terms of the AI, it is returning over 80% accuracy on most scores and alerts.
- The tool has helped the team get a better understanding of the cases they are receiving. It supports them to identify the most critical cases, which has helped to improve the mental wellbeing of staff.
AI has given the Extra Help Unit a safety net that they didn’t have before that protects consumers and staff.
Further reading
For more information you can read: Embracing AI: How charities can benefit | Citizens Advice Scotland
Citizens Advice SORT Caddy
