Pension Wise appointments have reached a record high across March, according to data published by the government.
The number of appointments in March reached 7,010 compared with 5,916 over February, according to the monthly data.
Before March, the last recorded high was in October last year when there were a total of 6,755 appointments in the month.
The price per visit to the website has been increasing each month. February’s figures stated it was 34p each visit.
Website visits since inception have now reached 2.44m and visits are up 10 per cent on February’s figures.
The cost per appointment has gone down to £507 across March.
The high was in August 2015 at £564 per appointment.
Scott Gallacher, director at Leicestershire-based Rowley Turton, said on the face of it Pension Wise statistics could be seen as encouraging.
He added: “As the cost of professional financial advice is typically no more than £200 per hour, a voucher system could have paid for at least two-and-a-half hours of an adviser’s time. Given that many of Pension Wise’s clients would need to see an adviser afterwards anyway, these two-and-a-half hours would have also saved the clients’ money in the long run as the advisers would already be up to speed with the clients circumstances and needs.”
ruth.gillbe@ft.com