People who are having trouble paying their mortgages should not have to pay a fee for financial advice. Instead, advisors should be able to bill the banks directly, according to draft legislation from the finance ministry.

Mortgage providers and financial advisors have been banned from charging commission for their services since the beginning of last year. Instead, the customer pays a fee – usually around €2,000.

But banks are concerned about the number of people finding it hard to pay their mortgages and say the high fees are putting them off asking for help, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday.

In particular, SNS bank, which relies on a network of independent financial advisors rather than in-house teams, has sounded the alarm.

The change in the current legislation may come into effect in 2015.