Brits Afraid Financial Experts will 'Take Advantage'

Many Brits do not seek professional advice to help sort out their finances because they believe that financial experts do not have their best interests at heart, a new survey claims.

Three-quarters of those polled by Yorkshire Bank said they thought that financial experts would mis-sell them products in order to boost their own commission.

One in four of those surveyed said they would visit an independent financial advisor whilst 19 per cent would prefer to talk to someone at a high street bank.

Of those who had spoke to an independent expert, 28 per cent said they consequently felt much happier about the overall state of their finances.

Some 57 per cent had changed their mortgage within the past year to save money whilst half had used their tax free savings allowance.

Furthermore, 42 per cent who sought financial advice had set up a pension and nearly half also believed thought they there finances were in good shape for the future.

Those who had not seen an expert were less confident about their money and less likely to have taken advantage of any financial tips which would have saved them money.

Tim Willis, Yorkshire Bank's head of financial planning, said: "Some of us don't seek professional financial advice because we are under the false impression that the advice we get is often motivated by commission the adviser may receive."

But 16 per cent said they had sorted out their finances because they it was too time consuming to shop around for the best product themselves.

A further 15 per cent of those questioned said they did not know where to start with their finances whilst 20 per cent said they would like someone to talk to them about it.