Financial advice plans welcomed by consumer panel

The consumer panel established by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has welcomed a recent review highlighting the important role generic financial advice is set to play for household finances across the UK.

According to the government commissioned Thorseen Review, a freely available support and advisory service will help future generations of British consumers avoid
debt management disaster.

This assertion is backed by the FSA’s consumer panel, which describes a generic advisory service as being a “crucial piece of the jigsaw”, in terms of promoting greater financial awareness around the country.

“A system of providing non sales-related generic advice in financial services will be all the more vital as we move towards personal accounts for pensions from 2012,” said John Howard, chairman of the FSA’s consumer panel.

“Personal Accounts will give people more responsibility for their long term savings, so they will need advice and support to understand the decisions they will be making.”

The average household in the UK has around £8,870 worth of personal loan or credit card debt, according to figures from Credit Action.