Consumers are becoming more confident in shunning specialist financial advice and purchasing financial products online, according to new research.
A survey by Defaqto revealed almost two-thirds of consumers are comfortable with researching and buying financial products online without professional advice.
The financial research firm found that 61% of people on average across all product areas are happy to buy products online.
It interviewed 2,500 consumers who were actively engaged in financial decision-making for the study.
Chief among these products being sourced online are short term income protection (IP) plans, which Defaqto statistics previously published by COVER, show has almost doubled from 20 to 38 since 2009.
The body said that its figures demonstrated that people are becoming increasingly confident when it comes to navigating financial products.
It added that, "significantly, they are more comfortable about making purchasing decisions without seeking advice from a professional source, such as a product provider or an intermediary".
