The Personal Finance Society and Citizens Advice Bureau are in the final stages of agreeing funding for a new roll-out of pro bono financial advice across the country later this year.
The programme is based on one piloted by the two organisations between 2005 and 2009 across 30 Citizens Advice offices, with over 1,100 consumers receiving advice and a further 2,400 getting generic financial information.
The service will be branded Moneyplan and, according to Mr Richards a private sector sponsor has been sourced, with contractual terms in the final stages of being agreed to help fund Cab’s administration and coordination of the programme, as well as providing professional indemnity cover for advisers that volunteer.
Speaking to FTAdviser, Keith Richards, PFS chief executive, said the pilot has been a great success but once it finished there was so much focus on the Retail Distribution Review that the decision was made to defer a wider roll-out for a few years.
“So last year we picked back up again, long before there was any murmurings of things like the advice guarantee,” he stated, adding that the advice proposition with Cab is not just limited to retirement advice.
“This is not related to the Budget announcement, but since then this has become more relevant and timely, given the amount of focus around the need for more effective retirement information and guidance.”
