Banking

When picking a financial product or service, new research has found 79% of consumers have taken some form of advice to help with the decision.

Almost four out of 10 people (39%) have used price comparison sites and 29% have asked family and friends for input into financial decisions. Other avenues included speaking to a financial professional at a bank of building society (37%), while 26% used an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) and 23% turned to the money pages of national newspapers.

David Elms, chief executive of Unbiased, a website promoting the benefits of independent financial advice, commented: Our work has always strongly focused on promoting the benefits of independent financial advice to the consumer. An independent financial adviser is the only adviser who can take a holistic view at your finances and recommend options from the whole of market, rather than just a selection of providers.

This research gives us grounds for optimism with many seeing the merits in a second opinion - and one in three of these having seen and experienced the services of an IFA. While this is a good start - we would still like more people to take advantage of the services of a financial professional, rather than relying on opinions of friends and families or price comparison websites.