Aviva reacts to Which? mystery shop

Dominic Fraser-Smith, group product manager for UK Life, Aviva comments on the findings of the Which? equity release mystery shop: "The findings of this mystery shop highlight the importance of consumers seeking specialist advice. This exercise reinforces the thinking at Aviva that the equity release market is for committed financial advisers who are ideally placed to provide holistic guidance on these complex products.

"All Aviva advisers have a minimum of five different related qualifications including CeMAP mortgage advice qualification and ER1 or a recognised equivalent. In addition, they also have annual competancy assessments and regular training to ensure that they have an in-depth understanding of equity release and how it fits into pre and post retirement funding. Our customers benefit greatly from this and in 2009 we have had an average 92% score on our monthly customer satisfaction survey.

"However, clearly not all advice provided by some advisers is up to Which?'s high standards, although we believe some of these issues are likely to be due to omission rather than ignorance. A thorough fact find is the vital foundation for good equity release advice and this is something that we will continue to emphasise in our training.

"In the current economic climate, equity release is a valuable solution for the increasing number of people entering or in retirement who face a shortfall in retirement income."

Consumers who are interested in learning more about this topic can visit our website aviva.co.uk/equity-release - to obtain further information