Insurance brokers are lobbying government to bring accountants and lawyers who provide investment advice under the supervision of the Financial Regulator and Financial Ombudsman.

Such a move would see the professions treated like other providers of financial advice in the market and offer customers recourse for complaints about misinformation or misselling.

"We are advocating that advisers in the practice of accountancy and in some cases law should be subject to the same regulation as financial advisers when providing investment or other personal financial advice to clients," said Ciaran Phelan, chief executive of the Irish Brokers Association, which represents over 700 regulated financial intermediaries.

The IBA said it was concerned that the remit of financial regulation in Ireland was too narrow, as it provided no formal protection to people who seek financial or investment advice from the self-regulated professions.

Phelan said the only avenues of recourse for clients of accountants and lawyers were the courts or the professional bodies.

"If a consumer wishes to make a claim against an adviser who is not regulated by the regulator and therefore falls outside the remit of the ombudsman, the only avenues open to them are to go through the courts, which can be highly expensive and runs the risk of costing the claimant significant amount in the event the claim is rejected. Or the second option is to report the adviser to the relevant authority. However, this would rarely if ever result in compensation."

By contrast the Financial Ombudsman can award claims of up to €250,000. Last year the Ombudsman had to decline three major cases in which the amount invested was up to €700,000 because the advisers were unregulated accountants answerable only to their professional bodies, which could not provide compensation. The ombudsman's office raised the issue with the regulator, but only the finance minister can change the scope of matters relevant to the ombudsman.

Insurance and mortgage brokers are under severe financial stress as a result of the recession. Many are trying to switch away from commission-driven business in favour of more stable and higher value fee-based financial advice. This has put them in competition with those accountants and lawyers who have traditionally handled this type of business.