Citizens Advice and PFS MoneyPlan pilot hailed a success

9 June 2009

A two year pilot project that provided financial expertise from members of the Personal Finance Society (PFS) to the public through Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) has been hailed a great success.

A Citizens Advice report published yesterday (8 June) found that the MoneyPlan scheme, which provides CAB clients with generic financial advice, is highly rated by more than four out of five users. Most could never afford to pay for the help received.

MoneyPlan saw 36 PFS expert members provide volunteer pro-bono advice across 29 Citizens Advice Bureaux in the UK. They saw over 1130 clients and dealt with almost 2300 issues. Very few of these clients had the resources to pay for the advice.

A CAB analysis of the scheme found that:

81% of clients rated the advice received as "very helpful"
64% had taken some action as a result of the advice given
76% said the problem for which they needed advice had been fully or partly resolved
92% preferred face-to-face advice because of the opportunity to examine and receive assistance with understanding documents, as 89% of those attending CAB said this was a problem
79% said that MoneyPlan was their first contact with an independent financial adviser

Fay Goddard, Chief Executive of the PFS, commented:

"I am delighted, though not surprised, by the findings. The public needs help and guidance today more than ever. They need to be able to talk to a person they can trust, someone who can talk to them in language they understand, and someone who can provide practical and impartial advice that gives them the confidence to take action. MoneyPlan has delivered all of this with resounding success.

"Working with Citizens Advice, we now need to focus on ensuring that the service is promoted and understood by consumers. I will be encouraging more PFS members to come forward to meet the growing demand for the service. Those that have participated have found it a very rewarding experience."

Teresa Perchard, Director of Public Policy at Citizens Advice, added:

"We are very grateful to all the PFS IFA members that have taken part in this project, and given their time to volunteer at their local CAB. MoneyPlan has exposed a worrying gap in the availability of financial advice for people who can’t afford to pay for it or start to know where to find it. Many of the clients seen by the IFAs have complicated enquiries about their mortgages or pensions. That there is nowhere for them to turn at the moment is something which needs to be addressed."

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