A recent increase in lead fees by the adviser review website VouchedFor has been met with scorn by IFAs, with some threatening to ditch the service.
Last month the cost of the service increased from £25 to £39 for advisers with a minimum criteria of ‘any level of wealth’, then from £55 to £69 for those with £50,000, from £75 to £109 for £100,000 and from £99 to £129 for £250,000 upwards.
Tracey Evans, financial planner at West Sussex-based Juno Wealth Management, said: “I will be having a rethink about VouchedFor due to the increase in fees and general lack of enquiries.
“I dislike the fact that you still have to pay for leads when someone ‘forces’ the system to contact you even though they do not meet minimum investment level as mine is set at £250,000.”
Darren Cooke, financial adviser at Derbyshire-based Red Circle Financial Planning, said: “I had been thinking about ditching them for a while due to lack of responses, and this sealed it.”
James Glasheen, financial adviser at Yorkshire-based Sheards Wealth Management, said: “I do not know any of my peers who would support a rise.”
Right to Reply
Adam Price, founder of VouchedFor, said: “With more IFAs joining VouchedFor, and after several improvements to the quality of enquiries, advisers asked us if we could spend more on marketing to generate more enquiries. We asked if they were happy with this even if it required a price increase – a vast majority were.
“Experience tells us that as advisers spend more with VouchedFor, their investment is rewarded by an increasing number of enquiries for advice.”
