How we chose
We started from the financial advice firms Google Maps shows across Telford, matched each one at Companies House, and read its own website for services, areas and terms. Authorisation statements are as stated on each firm's own site, and scheme memberships were sourced from the registers, firm websites and platforms where reachable [1] [2] [3]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Twelve firms were researched, and ten make the ranked table. We looked first at what customers say, then qualifications, then responsiveness, trading history and stated cover, with pricing clarity and website detail counting next. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the adviser to the job first. Pension and retirement planning, mortgages and remortgages, life and income protection, business credit insurance and wills are different disciplines, and the firms in this ranking lean different ways. Ask whether the adviser covers the whole market or a limited panel of providers, and whether your job needs a specialist permission, such as defined-benefit pension transfers. Both independent and restricted advisers must agree charges with you upfront, so a reluctance to talk about fees at the start tells you plenty [4]. When you first enquire, say what you hold, what you want to change, and over what timescale.
Telford geography shapes the practical side. Ranked firms meet from Stafford Park and Shifnal to Wellington and Newport, so most readers stay inside the borough. If the job involves a period property, the borough holds eight conservation areas, including the Severn Gorge, Wellington and Newport, where extra permissions can apply to works [7]. If the worry is debt rather than planning, Citizens Advice Telford and the Wrekin offers free, confidential money advice before paid advice enters the picture [8].
Check the name on the FCA register before you share personal details. Use the FCA Firm Checker to confirm the firm is authorised and holds permission for the service you want, or search the Financial Services Register for the firm's full record and the individuals behind it [1] [2] [3]. Several Telford firms in this round trade as appointed representatives, which means they act under a larger principal firm: the register shows the principal, and you can ask the principal to confirm what the representative may do. If a name appears on neither service, check the FCA Warning List of unauthorised firms, and treat pressure to proceed anyway as your cue to walk away.
Use the first meeting to test the fit. Most firms in this round offer a free initial consultation or review, by phone, video call or in person at offices from Shifnal and Wellington to Newport and Stafford Park. Bring a rough list of pensions, savings, mortgages and protection policies with approximate values, plus your goals and your attitude to investment risk. Expect a fact-find about your circumstances: advice given without one is guesswork. Leave the meeting knowing the adviser's scope, the likely fee shape, and what happens next, with nothing signed under pressure.
Get the fee agreement in writing before advice starts. It must show the total cost in pounds for your case, not only a percentage; when each part is payable and how, whether by fee, by commission, or a mix; what the initial work covers versus ongoing reviews; and whether VAT is added. CD Financial publishes fixed research and mortgage application fees with no VAT, and Dwello states an advice-fee range with a free first call, which is how transparent firms present it. Where a firm only agrees fees at the first meeting, ask for the figure in an email before the second one, and compare two firms on the same basis.
Understand what moves the price. Percentage fees scale with the pot, so a large pension pot costs more in pounds for the same rate; complex work such as transfer advice costs more than a straightforward remortgage; and ongoing annual reviews compound over the years, so ask what each review includes and how to stop it [4]. Commission on mortgages and protection is normal, but it must be disclosed through the customer journey, with the amount you pay and who pays it spelled out. If a quote mixes percentages, flat fees and commission, ask the adviser to restate the first-year total and the yearly cost after that in plain pounds.
A typical job runs first contact, fact-find, recommendation and review. You describe what you hold and what you want to change; the adviser gathers the full picture and agrees the fee in pounds before advising; the recommendation arrives in writing with its reasons, and you decide once the reasoning makes sense [4]. The written quote should show the first-year total, ongoing yearly cost, how commission is paid, and the VAT position. The closing file should hold the recommendation letter, fee documents, policy papers, a named contact, review date and complaints route.
Finish with paperwork you can file. You should leave with the recommendation in writing and the reasons it suits your circumstances, the exact fees charged, the documents for anything you bought, and a named contact plus a review date. If an authorised firm fails, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers regulated advice and related claims within its limits, which is another reason to keep every letter and statement [5]. Store the whole file where you will find it at review time, and diary the review rather than waiting for the firm to call.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough national pictures run like this. MoneyHelper illustrations put hourly advice around one to three hundred and fifty pounds an hour, initial pension or investment advice at one to three per cent of the value, and ongoing advice at around half to one per cent a year. The regulator's averages, quoted by Which?, sit near two and a half per cent initial and under one per cent a year ongoing, before product charges [4].
Worked examples help. A comparison site found arranging a mid-size mortgage cost around four hundred pounds upfront on average, while planning around a six-figure pot with five years of ongoing advice averaged well into four figures [4]. Here, CD Financial publishes a fixed research fee plus implementation and review rates with no VAT, and Dwello states an advice fee with a free first call. Most others agree fees privately, so treat national figures as context, not quotes.
What moves the price is complexity and pot size. Defined-benefit transfers and drawdown planning take more hours than a standard remortgage, percentage fees rise in pounds with the assets, and yearly reviews compound, so the initial fee can be the smaller half of the lifetime cost [4]. In this round the clearest predictor of value is whether the fee is published before you enquire.
Mortgages are usually the simplest bill. Lender commission often covers the broker, with some adding a stated advice fee agreed before the application goes in [4]. Dwello states its advice fee with a free first call; most others here agree the figure privately. Conservation-area buys can bring extra permission steps, so allow time as well as money [7].
Pension and investment advice usually costs the most, with bespoke work and percentage fees scaling with the pot. Here CD Financial publishes implementation and review rates, while Pensionlite agrees its fees during the customer journey.
Protection and business cover are often commission-paid inside the premium, not on a separate invoice. That makes the disclosure the thing to read: who pays, its size in pounds, and whether advice carries a separate fee [4]. Paul Humphreys quotes business cover personally with no added fees, so the quote letter is where the numbers live.
Get three things in writing: the first-year total in pounds including commission, the ongoing yearly cost and what each review includes, and whether VAT applies, since most firms here publish no VAT position. Ask how commission affects the fee and how to end ongoing reviews. Keep the fee agreement with the recommendation letter, and be wary of percentages with no pounds figure for your case.
Red flags
Recommends investments or a pension transfer before completing a fact-find about your circumstances and goals.
Cannot be found on the FCA register or Firm Checker under the exact name shown on its paperwork [1] [3].
Presses you to sign, transfer a pot, or pay a fee before you have the recommendation and its reasons in writing.
Quotes only a percentage with no pounds figure for your pot size, or sidesteps the question of VAT and commission.
Promises specific investment returns, or says moving your pension will definitely leave you better off.
Asks for fees to a personal account or in cash, with no invoice or fee agreement on the firm's letterhead.
Cold-calls about your pension out of the blue and pushes for a quick decision on the same call.
Goes quiet after the sale, with no named contact, no review date, and no written complaints route.
Suggests moving every pot to one provider in the first call, before seeing a single statement.
Names no individual adviser and answers every question from a generic inbox with no reply date.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.