Advisers have hit out at matching service Unbiased's new pricing structure, claiming it favours larger firms.
Unbiased offers services which connect clients to financial advisers, mortgage advisers and accountants.
Financial advisers used to be charged £45 for each enquiry they successfully accepted, but now Unbiased charges financial advisers a monthly fee of up to £3,727.
Under its new pricing structure, advisers can subscribe to either its standard plan, which costs £302 monthly and gives exposure in a minimum of five locations, its premium plan, which costs £1,292 a month and allows 20 locations, or its enhanced plan, which is billed at £3,272 a month and gives a minimum of 50 locations.
Unbiased has defended the new pricing saying it gives advisers a "high level of return" on their monthly investment.
Garry Hale, owner of HK Wealth in Stirling, said the new system favoured large companies over smaller firms who had previously used the service.
He said: “I think the pricing is now only favouring the medium, large and very large firms and Unbiased now no longer cares about the small adviser firms, many of whom have supported them loyally for many years.
"I now question whether they are still Unbiased and maybe should consider a rebrand to Biased? I also don't think this approach is transparent or fair to consumers as it limits their choice without them knowing. Not very consumer duty.”
The company's pricing for mortgage advisers and accountants remains priced per profile, starting from £35.
Darren Cooke, founder of Red Circle Financial Planning, echoed Hale's views saying the service was now biased towards national and regional providers.
He added: "Unbiased are still listed by many providers when they send literature to policy holders telling them to seek financial advice. Based on this I think those providers should seriously consider this, they may well be feeding clients to a restricted adviser who will then look to transfer that person away from the provider. This is literally turkeys voting for Christmas."
Karen Barrett, founder and chief executive of Unbiased, said: "Unbiased has the largest number of advisers in the UK using its platform to efficiently manage new business acquisition through its marketing, lead generation and conversion platform. We offer a range of solutions for different size businesses, starting at £302 per month. Our advisers achieve a high level of return on investment, and our products are transparently priced for all advisers."
Unbiased last made a change to its subscription model in 2020 when it offered advisers four subscription options — simple, essential, growth and enterprise — which would be suitable for firms at different stages of their development.
‘Simple’, at £29 a month, was the “low cost plan” which allowed advisers to use the Unbiased site and manage their enquiries while the £49 a month ‘essential’ option let firms receive client enquiries customised to their preferences and business goals.
This was the second change it had made in a year as in 2019 Unbiased increased the price paid by advisers for enquiries through its online directory, warning it could no longer absorb the "steadily increasing" cost of delivering the service itself.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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