Britons 'won't buy financial help'

People may miss out on financial advice as they are not willing to pay for it, research found
12 April 2012

Thousands of consumers look set to miss out on financial advice when new rules come into force because they are not prepared to pay for it, research has suggested.

Less than a third of people said they would be prepared to pay an upfront fee to receive help with their finances, according to accountants KPMG.

People can currently pay for financial advice in two ways: through an upfront fee or through commission paid on any products they buy.

But under the Financial Services Authority's Retail Distribution Review (RDR), which comes into force at the end of 2012, all advisers will have to be paid through a fee and consumers will no longer be able to pay through commission.

The research not only found that the majority of people were not prepared to pay for advice, but even among those who were, more than half said they would only pay up to £50 for an hour's guidance.

Only 1% of those questioned said they would be prepared to pay more than £200 an hour.

But in reality, the typical fees charged by independent financial advisers range from £75 to £250 an hour, suggesting many people will be priced out of the market.

People were even less likely to be prepared to pay for an annual in-depth financial review, with just 22% saying they would pay for this, around two-thirds of whom said they would not pay more than £250.

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