But as Panorama's Penny Haslam reports tonight, it is an uphill battle.
Panorama used two mystery shoppers to go undercover to gain a glimpse of in-house advisers at work. Each had the same cover, both were retired and with £90,000 to invest and both sought out cautious advice.
None of the filmed bank advisers broke Financial Services Authority rules although the BBC said that they came close on a few occasions, overstepping key principles laid down by the industry watchdog about treating customers fairly.
Panorama brought in two independent financial experts Louise Oliver and Adrian Lowcock to review the undercover camera footage to assess the advice on offer.
Lowcock, senior investment adviser from Bestinvest, said: “It has not been very clear. Charges were not very well explained, risk was not very well explained and fact finds were rushed. On some occasions we saw misleading on the charges conversion and confusion on risk conversations and that doesn’t seem fair on clients.”
And financial expert Oliver said: “It's inaccurate, it is misleading and it is building up the credibility of that particular solution for the client; the reason the advisor is probably doing it is because he knows that person is shopping around.”
Lloyds TSB responded: “If our adviser has described our charges as market leading then he has not met our expectations.”
HSBC added: “Although the issues raised by Panorama are the result of the advisory process not running to its natural conclusion, we have taken on board the issues raised and will use them to ensure we continue to offer the best possible service to our customers.”
The show is set to air on BBC One tonight at 20:30. Panorama: Can You Trust Your Bank?
