Firms can offer either advised or non-advised sales. Find out about the difference here.
The term 'advised sales' relates to how you give a customer advice about the service or product they're receiving. The full definition of advised sales is in our Handbook[1].
Characteristics of an advised sale include the adviser:
- explaining why the particular product or provider would meet the customer's demands and needs
- giving a recommendation tailored to the customer's needs
In non-advised sales, you do not make any personal recommendation and leave the customer to decide how they wish to proceed. For example, providing generic information recommending your client should buy household contents insurance (without mentioning a specific insurer or policy) that is unconnected with the sale of a contract would not be an advised sale.
What sales staff should avoid
You require specific permission from us if you want to give advice to customers. If your firm is set up to only make non-advised sales you need to be careful about straying into advised sales territory.
If you are able to only provide non-advised sales, you should consider whether you have sufficient controls to prevent sales staff trying to persuade customers to take out contracts and giving advice.
People making non-advised sales should avoid answering questions in a way that could inadvertently give advice. Answering questions such as 'what do you think?', or 'which one is best?' could involve making a personal recommendation and therefore become an advised sale.