Over half of consumers who have received advice from an IFA were ‘very confident’ the advice they received was appropriate for their circumstances, according to the FSA.

This compared with only 33 per cent of people who received advice from an adviser at a bank or building society.

The findings were part of the Financial Services Authority’s annual consumer research which surveyed over 2,000 people.

The reasons for the confidence were the nature of the relationship and greater continuity of knowledge and personalisation than at a bank or building society.

However, only 17 per cent of people questioned for the research had received financial advice in the last 12 months at all and of those who did, only 47 per cent saw an independent financial adviser.

Other sources of advice included advisers at banks and building societies, accountants and solicitors.

Nick Cann, chief executive of the Institute of Financial Planning, said: “People often find it very hard to find the sort of adviser they are looking for but when they do find a good financial adviser, they find they have the knowledge and experience and generally do a better job.

“People rarely search out a bank for advice, they’re either approached in store because they have lots of money or it’s because they have nowhere else to turn and then they find they’re just trying to sell them a product.”