Clients are beginning to warm to digitised advice, new research from Aviva shows.

The firm’s latest polling suggests that, prior to lockdown, only 52 per cent of planners had met all of their clients face to face at least once, and around 5 per cent had not never met the vast majority of their clients in person.

Aviva argues that this is a “clear indication” that a move away from face-to-face advice had already started, which has continued through the pandemic, as 66 per cent of advisers now say that clients have been much more accepting of changes to business models than they would have expected.

Fifty-nine per cent have been in more frequent contact with clients, while 70 per cent believe there is still scope to reduce business costs through more online processing.

Aviva head of platform Mike Hogg says: “It is  clear that the pandemic is moving the UK in line with other advice markets where remote advice models are more prevalent.

“The long-term question is whether we will see more advice businesses permanently remodel themselves around a ‘digital first’ philosophy, allowing them to compete nationally, increase productivity or serve clients with less investable wealth.”

However, advisers have continued to be frustrated with remote levels of service from providers.

Only 35 per cent rated online service as good, and just 13 per cent said the same about telephone accessibility.

Hogg says: “Advisers and their clients were very forgiving of the temporary changes to provider service that were necessary to make the transition from office to home working earlier this year.  Remote working is now ‘business as usual’ and advisers should not expect any disruption if widespread lockdowns return.”

Aviva is making its own move away from in-person advice to a more digitised offering.

Mortgage Strategy’s sister title, Money Marketing, revealed earlier this year the provider will be making 60 advisers redundant as it refocuses its strategy from traditional retirement advice to meet a wider set of customer needs, including through an abridged, low-cost, lighter touch advice service set to launch by the end of the year.