The UK's biggest celebration of trusted financial advice firms
Qualification for 2026 Top Rated Firm is now open
It’s time for brilliant advisers to be recognised.
Join the thousands of other advisers helping to
build confidence in the profession.
The Guide will appear in The Times and
The Telegraph and be shared with over 5,000
accountants and solicitors.
We’re delighted that this campaign is supported
by Blackrock & Fundment, enabling us to
reach 2M+ people and offer you more tools
to engage clients.
TOTAL REACH
2M+ reach across
major UK titles
SPECIALISM SPOTLIGHT
Focus on women in
advice, ESG and
Inheritance planning
REGIONAL PROMINENCE
Greater prominence
at regional level
Qualification criteria
How to qualify
Mandatory requirements (all firms must meet)
- All advisers collecting feedback through Elevation
- 80% of advisers achieve 10+ client reviews
- Firm star rating of 4.7+
Performance standards (meet 2 of 3 in your specialty)
- <35% of 2025 financial advice reviews show markers of risk
- >20% of 2025 financial advice clients are passionate advocates
- >20% of 2025 clients ‘couldn’t be more confident’ they are on track to achieve their financial goals
*each require 30 qualifying reviews
Mandatory requirements (all firms must meet)
- All advisers collecting feedback through Elevation
- 80% of advisers achieve 10+ client reviews
- Firm star rating of 4.7+
Performance standards (meet 2 of 3 in your specialty)
- <45% of 2025 mortgage reviews show markers of risk
- >50% of 2025 mortgage clients are passionate advocates
- >50% of 2025 clients ‘couldn’t be more confident’ they are in the most suitable mortgage for them
*each require 30 qualifying reviews
Mandatory requirements (all firms must meet)
- All advisers collecting feedback through Elevation
- 80% of advisers achieve 10+ client reviews
- Firm star rating of 4.7+
Performance standards (meet 2 of 3 in your specialty)
- <65% of 2025 protection reviews show markers of risk
- >40% of 2025 protection clients are passionate advocates
- >40% of 2025 clients ‘couldn’t be more confident’ their adviser found the most suitable insurance/protection policy for them
*each require 30 qualifying reviews
Mandatory requirements (all firms must meet)
- All advisers collecting feedback through Elevation
- 80% of advisers achieve 10+ client reviews
- Firm star rating of 4.7+
Performance standards (meet 2 of 3 in your specialty)
- <45% of 2025 equity release reviews show markers of risk
- >40% of 2025 equity release clients are passionate advocates
- >40% of 2025 clients ‘couldn’t be more confident’ they understand the potential disadvantages of their adviser’s recommendations
*each require 30 qualifying reviews
Why apply for Top-Rated status
Reach more clients than ever before
Qualifying firms will feature as a Top Rated Firm in our 2025 Guide to Top Rated Financial Advisers. The Guide will be distributed in national publications.
Celebrate your whole team
Top Rated Firm is a way to acknowledge the excellent work done by the whole firm. It’s an accolade that’s earned by, and recognises, paraplanners, marketing, customer service, as much as your advisers.
Attract and retain talent
Top Rated Firm is a powerful marketing tool for recruitment and acquisition. This will be made much stronger by the fact it’s now based on Elevation data
Promotional assets
Top Rated Firms will receive exclusive reputation tools to build confidence with prospects, clients and colleagues. These include a Top Rated Firm Certificate, a Top Rated Firm Badge and a Top Rated Firm widget, which showcases all your excellent client reviews on your website.
New VouchedFor Client Experience Awards
In 2025, we launched the first ever Client Experience Awards -judged entirely on client feedback. It was a landmark celebration of excellence in the profession.
In 2026, the Awards and Guide will align closely to spotlight those delivering exceptional service, backed by real feedback and data.
What Top Rated Advisers say
FAQs
1. Do I have to invite ALL my firm's clients to review my firm?
We always encourage firms to invite all their clients to leave reviews, in line with the spirit of Consumer Duty. This naturally gives firms the richest possible data set, from which to identify potential revenue opportunities and risks.
However, the qualification criteria is changing. Firms now need to receive 10 or more reviews for at least 80% of their advisers. The reason for this change is feedback we received that inviting all clients to leave reviews is a) difficult to evidence; and b) sometimes not practical.
Changing this criteria makes it easier for firms to evidence (and track) that they’ve met this criteria, while recognising that in some instances, it might not be appropriate to invite all clients to leave feedback.
Examples of possible reasons not to invite client feedback are listed below:
- New clients, who have been a client for less than 6 months (including clients inherited from a colleague)
- M&A clients, whose original firm was acquired by or merged with yours in the last 12 months
- Clients without an email address
- Celebrity clients
- Clients who are unwell or infirm
- Clients of advisers who are under notice
- Clients who have previously reviewed you on VouchedFor within the last 12 months
- Corporate clients
- Clients who have not paid you for a service within the last 12 month
2. Is there a deadline to qualify?
Yes. The deadline to qualify as a Top Rated Firm 2026 is 31st December 2025. We will assess which firms have qualified on this date.
3. Does my firm need to pay to be a Top Rated Firm?
Top Rated Firm accreditation is available to all Elevation member firms that meet the criteria. As such, a valid Elevation subscription is required to qualify as a 2026 Top Rated Firm; no other charges apply.
The reason for making Elevation a core part of the criteria is that its industry benchmarks and reports are the best data we have on whether a firm is doing a good job for its clients. Plus, the system tells us whether firms are engaging with and acting on their data to consistently improve client outcomes.
4. Do I have to qualify as the firm of the FCA ID I use?
An adviser ‘counts’ towards a firm name based on the FCA ID they have added to VouchedFor.
For a principal or directly authorised firm to qualify, all their advisers (incl. appointed representatives) will count in the Top Rated Firm process.
It is possible for an Appointed Representative (AR) to qualify without all ARs associated with their principal qualifying. This is provided that the AR is a limited company and ALL advisers associated with their trading style form part of the Top Rated Firm process.
5. Can the industry benchmarks change?
For simplicity, we have taken the benchmarks at a point in time and will keep them fixed as the criteria for qualification. This is to avoid expecting firms to hit a moving target.
6. Can I qualify if I don't have many clients?
Possibly. The award is grounded in data – so we need a certain number of data points to be sure it’s statistically significant. You need a minimum of 30 clients’ feedback from 2025 with the questions that power our Elevation system answered.
7. What if my firm tries to qualify but doesn't manage to?
At least you tried, which is testament to you ‘walking the walk’ with transparency. Plus, in trying to qualify, you will undoubtedly have collected evidence to help you meet the Consumer Duty, and identify opportunities to improve referrals and reduce risk.
8. Does a couple count as one or two clients?
Applicant firms can invite each person to leave reviews if they wish.
9. If we have financial advisers and mortgage advisers, which industry benchmarks apply?
We would take a view on which of the benchmarks to apply based on the proportion of your reviews relating to each service. If the vast majority of your reviews relate to financial advice for example, we would rely on the benchmarks for financial advice.
10. What if one of my firm’s advisers doesn’t take part?
As this is a firm-level award, we expect all your advisers to be on Elevation. We encourage firms to invite feedback from all of their clients (with some exemptions, see relevant FAQ). Provided 80% of your advisers receive 10 or more reviews, you can still qualify, so there may be edge cases where an adviser doesn’t receive any reviews (for example, if you have a new adviser with no clients), but this is not recommended.
11. What if I qualify and then my scores drop?
The decision as to which firms qualify as Top Rated Firms will be decided based on scores as at 31st December. Firms that qualify will feature as Top Rated Firms throughout 2026.
The only exception to this would be if we see a sharp drop in a firms’ scores, in which case we reserve the right to remove Top Rated Firm status.
12. Do I need to notify VouchedFor when I achieve the qualification criteria?
You do not need to manually notify the VouchedFor team when you achieve the qualification criteria. Once you reach the criteria your firm will be automatically flagged, and provided you maintain the requirements, you will be listed as a 2026 Top Rated Firm.
13. Will our firm feature in all copies of the Guide?
Yes, provided you remain a member of Elevation at the time of going to print, your firm will be featured in each edition of the Guide (March and June). Firms must remain an active member of Elevation so that we can verify that they remain committed to inviting all clients to give feedback.
14. We offer both mortgages and investment advice - do we need 30 reviews for both (60 total), or just 30 overall?
You’ll need at least 30 reviews for your primary service type. For example, if you’ve received 200 financial advice reviews in total and 250 mortgage advice reviews, you’ll be categorised as a mortgage advice firm – meaning you’ll need 30 mortgage advice reviews to meet the criteria.
15. Do all reviews in 2025 count? Even if Elevation questions weren’t asked/answered as the firms signed up for Elevation part way through 2025.
Yes. We’ll display the total number of reviews and total rating – all 2025 reviews will count, even if Elevation questions weren’t asked. Obviously only those with Elevation data will count toward the industry benchmark.
Ready to be recognised?
Be part of the movement building trust in advice.
Applications are NOW open.
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