The Government must take ‘drastic’ action to improve the numbers of people accessing advice, according to LV=.

Ahead of the results of the Financial Advice Market Review being announced in the Budget next week, the company expressed concerns about failures to help “the most vulnerable” get professional help on their finances.

A statement from the firm read: “LV= believes the low take up of advice is leading to a “mis-buying” crisis where people are making important financial decisions without adequate support.

“Drastic Government intervention is needed to encourage more people to use advice and ensure everyone is able to access it, not just those who happen to be able to afford it.

“LV= wants to see Government incentivising the take up of advice by providing consumers with a voucher to pay towards advice at the point of retirement.”

The company said its own research showed 63% of those it surveyed would be more likely to use an adviser if they received a voucher, increasing to 74% of those with a stakeholder pension.

It also wants it to be mandatory to see a Pension Wise official if consumers don’t take advice.

Only 34% of those polled aged over 55 said they planned to use Pension Wise when they retired and 22% said they would take independent financial advice.

About half a million (480,000) people will retire each year without taking regulated advice and could miss out, the company estimated.

LV= also called for the introduction of a standard definition for regulated advice, as well as ‘information’ and ‘Government-backed guidance’, to avoid confusion.

The firm has offered to work with Government to offer pensions advice for free, using its own robo-adviser style ‘Retirement Wizard’.

Richard Rowney, managing director of Life and Pensions at LV=, said: “Too few people get the advice they need at the point of retirement and many don’t shop around, meaning they could be missing out.

“We need bold action from Government to create a system where all consumers – no matter how much money they have saved – are able to access affordable, regulated advice to help them make the most of their money. By improving the take up of advice, pensions will work harder at retirement, leaving individuals better off and less likely to rely on state support.”