Study shows people unaware of financial advice options

January 24, 2020 by Brendan O'Neill

Mortgage Advisors

New research that has been carried out by the Openwork financial advice network has revealed that almost one third of all adults in the UK do not know where to go to get guidance about their finances.

The research found that 33% of the adults who took part in the study fell into this category and that the situation was most dire among younger adults. Of people aged below 25, more than half did not know what their options were in terms of advice about their financial situation.

Openwork’s wealth and platform director, Mike Morrow, said in response to the findings that it was extremely concerning that such large numbers of people remained in the dark about how to get sound financial advice and support.

He went on to add that, although a number of tools for this purpose were available on the internet, both the government and the different parts of the financial industry should be making greater efforts to ensure that people know how to access advice.

Research has indicated that while everything from the mortgage industry to the banking world is using tech to an ever-greater extent, the majority of people in the UK would still rather speak to a human advisor. In total, 75% expressed this preference.

While there are plenty of reputable mortgage advisors with the proper CeMAP training, and a proven public demand for their services, it is clear that people need to be made more aware of their availability.