A growing ‘Trust Gap’ is preventing contact centres from reaching customers at all, according to new research from MaxContact.
The company’s Voice of the Consumer UK 2026 report shows consumers are increasingly screening and ignoring legitimate business contacts because they cannot tell what is real and what is not.
In an independent survey of 1,000 UK-based consumers who had interacted with a contact centre in the last 18 months, it was found that engagement breaks down before the first point of contact.
Key findings from the report confirmed that
- A whopping 69% of consumers always or often screen calls from unknown numbers
- Half have ignored a message from a legitimate company because they assumed it was a scam or fraudulent.
- Worryingly, only 22% of consumers strongly agree they can tell when an unexpected company contact is genuine
- 77% of those who have ignored a legitimate call have experienced a real consequence as a result
The call screening findings indicate this could become a serious operational and commercial risk for contact centres. If consumers are failing to pick up the phone, it can lead to reduced outbound performance, increased demand for unresolved issues, missed payments, appointments, or service interventions, or greater regulatory risk in sensitive sectors.
Not all sectors are equally affected.
The report also shows significant differences between sectors in call answer rates.
- Loans, credit and debt management companies are the most avoided, with 37% of consumers saying they would be least likely to answer a call from this sector.
- Insurance follows at 25%, with technology, telecoms, retail and e-commerce following closely behind at 22-23%.
- Banks and building societies fare better, with only 16% avoidance.
To overcome this sector variation, contact centres should better identify who the caller is and why they are calling to encourage consumers to answer the phone.
AI is also highlighting a wider trust challenge.
AI and automation are hugely beneficial for contact centre operations, but MaxContact’s report has highlighted that failing to disclose any AI use to consumers will widen that trust gap even further.
- While consumers are happy for AI to be used, 88% of UK consumers say it’s important for companies to clearly disclose when AI is being used.
- A large majority (87%) of consumers believe they have interacted with AI or automation in a recent company contact.
- Of those, 22% were sure or fairly sure they had interacted with AI but weren’t aware of it at the time. That’s over one in five consumers who discovered, in retrospect, that part of their contact experience was automated.
This lack of transparency risks reinforcing the same uncertainty which is causing consumers to avoid calls.
Speaking of the report, Ben Booth, CEO of MaxContact, says,
“This data should make every contact centre leader pause. Consumers broadly trust the sectors they deal with, but that trust doesn’t translate into picking up the phone. The clear differences between the sectors confirm that the problem isn’t just sentiment; it’s the inadvertent signals being sent out. If consumers can’t tell the difference between a legitimate call and a scam, outbound strategies will struggle to deliver.”
“This trust gap is something that needs to be rectified. It’s the culmination of consumer frustration, the prevalence of scams, and the use of AI, and consumers don’t know who to trust anymore. It’s not hostility, but uncertainty that is resulting in the call screening barriers, which is why we need to address this as a matter of urgency.”
Ben concludes,
“The Trust Gap is a solvable problem — but only for businesses willing to treat trust as an operational priority, not a brand one. That means being transparent about how you use AI, giving consumers clear signals of legitimacy before you dial, and recognising that the channel choices you make send a message before a word is spoken. The contact centres that will win in 2026 are the ones that earn the right to be answered.”
To download a copy of the Voice of the Consumer 2026 report Click Here
- The Voice of the Consumer 2026 is an independent study commissioned by MaxContact.
- The study surveyed 1,000 UK adults aged 18 and over who had interacted with a company’s contact centre by any channel in the last 18 months.
- Data was collected between 16 April and 23 April 2026. Guaranteed minimum subsamples: 150 Utilities, 150 Telecoms, 125 Finance/credit, 100 Insurance.
- The research was conducted in accordance with the Market Research Society (MRS) Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles
