News & Investigations Reporter
11 March 2026
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People struggling with their mental health need a simpler way to tell banks, energy firms and other providers that they need support – with the majority currently missing out on extra help due to how daunting the existing process can be. That’s according to new research from Martin Lewis and the charity he founded and chairs, the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI).
Many firms – such as banks, energy suppliers and telecoms companies – offer extra support for people with mental health problems. For example, some allow you to nominate a trusted person to receive important notifications or manage your account on your behalf.
But MMHPI’s research shows the majority of people living with mental health issues are missing out on this extra support – only 14% surveyed having told their financial services provider about their condition.
Martin and MMHPI are calling on the Government to introduce a ‘Share Once’ system, which would make it easier for those living with mental health problems to disclose their conditions to all the providers they use at once, in a safe, secure way.
Martin Lewis: ‘It is time we started using data to drive compassion’
Martin Lewis
MSE founder & chair
The Government has a Tell Us Once system for when someone dies, yet we lack the same for those who are alive and struggling. That makes no sense. We need a single simple system that can work across essential services like banks, energy and water firms, and government systems too – whichever people choose.
Right now, a vulnerable person in the middle of a mental (or physical) health crisis may have to call firm after firm, and government agencies on top, repeating the same painful, possibly embarrassing or triggering explanation again and again. In a digital age where data sharing is simple, that feels almost cruel.
Of course, safeguards and informed consent are essential – people must have control of their data. But it is time we stopped focusing on using data to just drive profit and started using it to drive compassion.
‘Being able to share once would make my life immensely better’
People living with mental health problems told MMHPI they found it distressing to repeatedly share details about their condition with different services, such as banks and utilities firms – with over half (53%) saying they’d be likely to use a ‘Share Once’ system.
Sharing once would make my life immensely better. It gets extremely stressful and negatively affects my mental and physical health having to tell a company all of this every time.
– MMHPI survey respondent
Despite this, some surveyed said they were concerned about how their personal information and data would be stored and used by providers under a ‘Share Once’ system, and how the information they give could potentially be used to block access to products like credit or insurance – something Martin and the MMHPI have considered in their recommendations.
What Martin and his charity are calling for
Martin and the MMHPI are asking the Government, regulators and providers to:
Introduce a ‘Share Once Support Register’. This should allow people to share information about their mental health in a simpler way, while also protecting their privacy. And it should include ALL essential services, including banking, energy, telecoms and water.
Require providers to take part. This would help to avoid gaps in the scheme where you still have to notify some firms separately. But providers should still offer help to those who don’t want to use the ‘Share Once’ notification process.
Ensure there’s a redress system in place. So people can complain about the scheme if it’s not working properly or if they feel their data is being misused.
The previous Government’s planned ‘Share Once’ system hasn’t been rolled out
In 2024, under the previous Government, the Department of Business and Trade announced plans for a ‘Share Once Support Register’, which would allow vulnerable people to share information with energy, telecoms and water companies all at once to access extra support. However, that plan has still not been implemented, nearly two years later.
We put Martin’s and MMHPI’s calls to the Department of Business and Trade, and we’ll update this story if we get a response.