The Citizens Advice service helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free, independent and confidential advice, and by influencing policymakers.
Every Citizens Advice Bureau is a registered charity reliant on trained volunteers and funds to provide these vital services for local communities.
Successful partnership gets generic financial advice where it’s needed |
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National charity Citizens Advice is looking for support to help it extend a successful pilot project testing out how independent financial advisers can work with Citizens Advice Bureaux to provide free generic financial advice to people on low and middle incomes. An evaluation has found that more than three-quarters (77%) of the 244 people seen under the pilot scheme rated the service very good, and eight out of ten (79%) went on to act on the advice they had been given. Endowment mortgages accounted for the largest single number of enquiries (24%), with requests for pensions advice coming a close second (22%). Other issues on which advice was sought included debt, financial planning, equity release, inheritance, relationship breakdown and mis-selling of financial products. Many clients simply needed help with translating gobbledegook in the communications they had from financial firms. Citizens Advice Director of Policy Teresa Perchard said:
The pilot, in which eight Citizens Advice Bureaux and IFAs tested out three ways of improving access to generic financial advice for people on low and middle incomes, ran for eight months from January 2005. Most of the clients who received generic financial advice as part of the pilot were owner occupiers (83%), but the majority were reliant on pension income, benefits, or a mixture of earnings and benefits. Some 63% were over 60 and almost a quarter (22%) had a disability. Very few had had any contact with independent financial advisers before. The generic financial advice they were offered included helping them identify and understand their financial needs and plan their finances; setting out priorities for action appropriate to their needs; agreeing the steps they could take to address their priorities and informing them of other sources of information and advice. Those wanting to find out about specific products were referred to a list of qualified independent financial advisers in their area. The pilot scheme was managed by a steering group including representatives of Citizens Advice, the Treasury, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Financial Services Authority, the Personal Finance Society and various financial institutions and trade bodies. Financial support was provided by Barclays Bank, the Personal Finance Society and a charitable trust. The Personal Finance Society provided a list of volunteers from its IFA membership. Personal Finance Society Director Robert Reid said: ‘We are delighted that the pilot has shown the trust which can be developed between financial advisers and the public once initial reluctance to engage is overcome. As a professional body, PFS believes that it would be desirable for its members to consider seriously engaging in pro bono work as has been the practice of other professions.” Peter Kelly, Head of Financial Inclusion at Barclays, said: “Barclays is a long standing supporter of Citizens Advice and we recognise the important role that it undertakes. We were delighted to support this successful pilot which has confirmed that the CAB service working with professional financial advisers meets a real need." As well as high levels of client satisfaction, the bureaux advisers and IFAs involved were overwhelmingly positive about the scheme. Several IFAs said they valued being able to put something back into the community and being able to use their skills to make a contribution. Cases dealt with included: A married man in his sixties with a £12,000 endowment mortgage taken out in 1997 with a projected shortfall of £30,000-£40,000 when it matures in 2008. He was not warned that the value of the endowment could fall. He said he found the service invaluable. He is pursuing a claim with the help of the IFA and is confident of a good outcome. A man due to retire who needed advice on his pension options. He had difficulty understanding letters from his pension provider, was unsure how an IFA could help and could not afford to use one in any case. He found the advice he received through the project very useful. An 80 year old man with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease who when trying to phone his pension provider got an automated menu with 19 different options. The IFA was able to make the calls on his behalf and translate complex and unclear information for him. A pensioner with two adult sons and grandchildren who needed advice on wills, probate and inheritance tax after his wife died. He was given advice on a range of issues including making a will, investments and his mortgage which he found very useful and acted on. He is now in touch with an IFA and his bank for further help. Notes to editors:Bureaux taking part in the pilots were:Wolverhampton; Diss; Kerrier; Caerphilly; Gateshead; Medway, Knowsley and Boothferry. Participating IFAs were:Kerrier Diss Knowsley Medway Caerphilly Boothferry Gateshead Notes to editors:
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