Which? has found huge variations in the cost of financial adviser services nationwide.

The consumer group surveyed the cost of four different services at 200 firms around the country.

The four services were to transfer a single premium of £5,000 gross into a stakeholder pension, transfer an investment of £10,680 into a stocks and shares Isa, arrange a 20-year level-term assurance policy with a sum assured of £100,000 for a 40-year-old male in good health and arrange an income protection policy for a 30-year-old female in good health earning £30,000 a year with a retirement age of 65.

The largest discrepancy found was for the transfer of a single premium of £5,000 gross into a stakeholder pension.

The fee for this service in Scotland was £50 while the fee for the same service in south-east England was £2,500. The average fee was £322.

There is currently no set list of average fees for consumers to view, meaning it is hard for them to know what is reasonable and what is not.

Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said: “Financial advisers should be much more transparent in their pricing, providing details of all their charges upfront. At present it’s very difficult for customers to know how much they’re going to be charged and what is reasonable.”

He said it should be up to the regulator to step in if advisers failed to clearly display their fees.

Which? hopes the introduction of the RDR in January 2013 will help to rectify these problems as advisers will have to tell consumers their fees and will no longer be allowed to charge commission.