Thousands act on PFS calls for PI and FSCS funding reform

The template was created after members called for a way to support the professional body’s renewed efforts, announced at the end of 2019, to engage the newly elected government on issues impacting access to financial advice that was mandated as part of pension freedoms.

The issues include the hardening of the professional indemnity insurance market and the levy for the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The template was produced to help financial advisers write to their local MPs to explain how these issues affect their constituents and to request a review of the way consumer compensation is funded.

The template refers to the Personal Finance Society’s funding solution, which enables consumers to benefit from enhanced financial education, includes funding for guidance services and delivers the same level of consumer compensation as the current system does.

The solution, which would end the need for professional indemnity insurance, draws funding from both the market and a levy on the £9 trillion plus of retail investment assets in the UK.

Laurence Turner, Chartered Financial Planner and Chairman of IFT Wealth Management Ltd, was one of the first advisers to download the PFS template and wrote immediately to Halifax MP, Holly Lynch.

Mr Turner said: “While I have engaged with my MP in the past regarding the impact of over regulation on the local community, as a small firm you can sometimes be forgiven for feeling like a small fish in a very large pond. 

“As part of a much larger and more united profession than ever before, I am confident we can make a difference to the current situation if we pull together and I am 100 per cent aligned and appreciate the guidance of my professional body.”

Keith Richards, chief executive of the Personal Finance Society, said “The rate of uptake for the new template is proof of the level of concern felt by the profession and the need for policy change. With 3,000 downloads within 48 hours, this clearly demonstrates the urgency for action felt across the personal finance profession.

“Many financial advisers have joined with us and independently raised concerns over the past few years. It is good to see more advisers taking the initiative, using the template and showing our profession can work together to compel our elected government to take notice and appropriate action.”