Consumers would be able to use the vouchers to have a telephone or face-to-face session with an adviser at a time in their working lives when they are best placed to develop a long-term plan to achieve their financial and life goals, PFS said.
Advisers could deduct a proportion of the cost of each session from their next Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) levy, based on a rate per redeemed voucher submitted.
Consultation review
The recommendation featured in PFS’s response to the government’s public financial guidance review consultation.
Announced in October, the government will merger The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS), Pension Wise, and the Money Advice Service into a single body that will bring together pensions, debt advice and money guidance.
“A government voucher scheme would give many who have never thought of professional advice a first-hand experience of its value."
The new body will work with the financial services sector, pensions industry, charities and government departments to help people get the right information and guidance that they need.
It will not, however, provide or support any form of regulated financial advice, with the sole exception of funding those delivering regulated debt advice.
Building on work
PFS suggested that the merged guidance body could build on work already undertaken by PFS and the wider personal finance profession.
It could play a leading role in branding, facilitating and overseeing the initiative, in cooperation with government departments including the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP).
FPS could provide support by creating a subset of its existing accredited directory and signposting consumers to participating advisers in their area.
PFS chief executive Keith Richards said: “The need for consumers to have access to financial advice is greater than ever, and we believe that this initiative offers a practical solution to bridging the current advice gap and getting consumers who need advice in front of a qualified professional.
“A government voucher scheme would give many who have never thought of professional advice a first-hand experience of its value and would demonstrate a real commitment by the new guidance body to collaborate with the personal finance profession to achieve workable outcomes in the public interest.
“Many advisers are already delivering introductory financial advice sessions to consumers at their own expense and a voucher to cover the cost of a qualified guidance session would increase access and protect the interests of more consumers against poor planning and scams,” Richards said.
