Plain language has always been about more than readable writing. A new ISO standard makes that official — redefining it around whether readers can actually find, understand and use the information they need. If they can't, the document has failed, not the reader. With international consensus now behind that principle, it has implications for how firms approach everything from terms and conditions to customer communications.

Many organisations tackling Consumer Duty ask the same question: what level of customer understanding do we need to hit? It's a reasonable instinct — but it's the wrong question. Ben Perkins explains why chasing a magic number gets in the way of the progress that actually matters.

We're delighted to share that an initial cohort of colleagues from the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Communications team have completed Plain Numbers training.

The UK's financial services regulator works with data every day. But as their own Communications team put it - numbers on their own don't always land. And when people can't understand what is being presented, the impact of communications is lost.

I've become used to reading reports that skirt over the extent to which consumers struggle to understand numbers.

So it was heartening to see the FCA's Consumer understanding: good practice and areas for improvement report explicitly acknowledge both the scale of the problem: almost 18 million adults with poor financial numeracy, and over 10 million adults with low confidence with everyday numeracy.

There was plenty of food for thought - and action - in there.

In the communications we all receive, numbers are everywhere – interest rates, fees, projections and more. Organisations often throw these numbers and  financial concepts at customers and hope they’ll understand. But what if they don’t? 

Getting the wrong end of the stick when it comes to numbers can lead to poor financial choices, harm for customers, and potentially hurt an organsiation’s reputation.

Arrears letters are vital to both businesses and the customers who receive them. The effectiveness of these letters hinges on clarity and understanding, as well as communicating with empathy.

This insight article offers five tips for making sure they are as clear as possible.

At Plain Numbers, we’re working with dozens of firms across different sectors to help them avoid these mistakes and create communications that more people can understand. This delivers better customer outcomes. Get in touch with us to find out if we can help your team. 

Yorkshire Building Society enters a three year partnership with Plain Numbers.

Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty in understanding numbers. It can be distinct from simply struggling with maths and is thought to effect about 6% (that's about 4 million people) of the UK population. 

Laura Parker, a Senior Content Designer working in the public sector, tells us what it's like living with dyscalculia. 

On 20th October, Amazon Web Services was interrupted for a little over a day. Banks like Lloyds and Halifax suffered outages, messaging services like Snapchat went down, and even the UK government's HMRC website was unavailable at times. 

But the real issue wasn't the outage itself – it was how it was communicated. 

Business Stream, the UK’s longest-established water retailer, has partnered with Plain Numbers to enhance how numerical information is presented to business customers. The collaboration supports Business Stream’s Customer Vulnerability Framework by making bills, contract changes and other essential information clearer and easier to understand.

Organisations spend huge amounts of time delving into the details of the numbers, the wording, the layout - but many customers still don’t get it.

Not because the information’s wrong, but because often the communication doesn’t explain roughly what’s going on and why it should matter to them. 

All the detailed product information in the world can’t fix that missing foundation. And it’s not the customer’s fault. These ideas aren’t always intuitive, and most people were never taught them in a meaningful way. 

Whilst the human brain is a powerful thing, it is subject to limitations. Biases are often the result of our brains attempt to simplify things. Fundamentally, our brains have a 2-system approach to making decisions.

We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Rothesay, the UK's largest specialist pensions insurer, purpose-built to protect pension schemes and their members’ pensions.

We are delighted to announce a new partnership with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an organisation that provides high-quality money and pensions guidance to help people improve their financial wellbeing. MaPS do this through the free and impartial service, MoneyHelper.

We’re thrilled to announce our new three-year partnership with Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK.  

Together, we’ll work to improve the clarity of customer communications – supporting customers to better understand their finance options and make informed decisions.  

Helen is an unpaid carer who was thrown into a world of confusing communications at a time when she most needed clarity. 

Helen’s story is a powerful reminder for any organisation that when people are overwhelmed, time-poor, or vulnerable, unclear communication doesn’t just frustrate – it can harm.

In the communications we all receive, numbers are everywhere – interest rates, fees, projections and more. Organisations often throw these numbers and  financial concepts at customers and hope they’ll understand. But what if they don’t? 

Getting the wrong end of the stick when it comes to numbers can lead to poor financial choices, harm for customers, and potentially hurt an organsiation’s reputation.

We’re excited to welcome the Utility Regulator (Northern Ireland) as the first regulator to become a Plain Numbers Partner.

Over the next three years, we’ll support the Utility Regulator in improving their own communications and promoting good practice among the firms they regulate – helping to make sure numbers add up for consumers across Northern Ireland.

ISAs could be changing. There’s been lots of talk about tinkering with the system and it’s widely expected the government will consult on changes.  

Suggestions have included lowering the amount people can save in cash ISAs tax free from the current £20,000 or even limiting ISAs to just investment.