One-Off Financial Advice: Paying Once, With No Ongoing Fee

Can you get one-off financial advice without ongoing fees?

Yes: nothing in the FCA’s rules requires you to take an ongoing service, and a firm may charge an ongoing fee only for a disclosed ongoing service you can cancel without penalty (COBS 6.1A.22R). Many firms charge this way: in 2025, 1,630 UK firms typically charged a fixed fee for initial advice and 1,006 an hourly rate (FCA retail intermediary market data 2025, Table 24).

01What one-off advice looks like

One-off advice answers a defined question: whether to combine pensions, how to invest a lump sum, how to take your pension at retirement. You receive a personal recommendation and a suitability report explaining it. You then put it in place yourself, or pay the firm to do it.

The FCA's 2025 data counts about 957,000 initial advice services in the year, against about 4.16 million clients in ongoing services at the year end. About 339,000 clients left an ongoing service during 2025.

02How it is charged

A fixed fee for the piece of work, agreed in pounds before it starts.
An hourly rate, with an estimate of the hours.
A percentage of the money advised on, charged once as an initial adviser charge.

If no product is arranged, for example if you take a report and act on it yourself, VAT may apply; see VAT on financial advice.

03What you give up

Without an ongoing service, nobody reviews your plan unless you ask. You are responsible for noticing when it needs another look: a change in your income, health or family, a new tax year, or a change in the rules. You can go back for further one-off advice when that happens, and pay for it then.

04If a firm only offers ongoing advice

Some firms take clients only on an ongoing basis. That is their choice to make, but it is worth knowing at the first meeting. Ask whether the initial advice can be bought on its own, and at what price. If you have already agreed to an ongoing service and no longer want it, you can cancel without penalty; see switching adviser.

05Common questions

Is one-off advice cheaper than ongoing advice?

Over several years it usually costs less in pounds, because there is no annual fee. Whether it is better value depends on how often your circumstances change and whether you will act on the plan yourself.

Do I get a written report with one-off advice?

If the firm gives you a personal recommendation on an investment or pension, it must provide a suitability report explaining it.

Sources and further reading

About this guide: figures are labelled with their source and date and describe the market, not any firm; illustrations are arithmetic, not forecasts or quotes. This is general education, not regulated advice or a personal recommendation, and FinancialAdvisor.co.uk is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Spotted an error? Report it and we will correct it.