Public lack trust in financial services industry

As the Government puts the finishing touches to the White Paper on the future of pension saving, new research from Which? shows that the financial services industry has a long way to go to gain the full trust of the public.

The research found that only half of consumers (47 per cent) trust the financial services industry as a whole and one in five of those questioned (21 per cent) has had a bad experience with a financial company in the past.

Consumers who do not trust the industry are more likely to have had a bad experience, with a quarter (25 per cent) reporting past problems with a financial services company.

Doug Taylor, personal finance campaigner from Which? comments: “These are worrying statistics. The financial services industry’s past actions and mis-selling scandals have scarred British consumers.

“Our research found that more than two in five consumers (43 per cent) do not have any personal pension provision at all so we need to instil trust to encourage consumers to save now for their retirement.

“The industry could not be trusted to deliver on the government’s flagship stakeholder pensions policy a couple of years ago and it can’t be trusted now.

“Which? is calling for a simple, trustworthy scheme to deliver Personal Accounts in 2012 and turn the potential pensions crisis around.”