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  • October 2015
10

Pension reforms risk being "next major pensions mis-selling scandal", warn MPs

Open-access content 19th October 2015

The new “freedom to choose” reforms introduced in April 2015 are “insufficient” and people must have the ability to make a “well-informed choice”, the Work and Pensions Committee has said.

2

In a report published today, the committee said without support pension freedoms could lead to the "next major pensions mis-selling scandal". 

The committee said: "To not provide the basis for a well-informed choice could lead to the next major pensions mis-selling scandal. The committee therefore calls on the government to act swiftly in response to its report."

Majors issues found in the report include "advice gaps", insufficient data and weaknesses involving the government's free guidance service, Pension Wise.

The report found "advice gaps" where individuals may not have access to the guidance or advice they need to make informed decisions about what to do with their savings.

The committee called on the government to provide more anti-scam publicity and introduce stricter reporting requirements for pension providers. It said the use of jargon and "complex pricing structures" should be reduced. The distinction between guidance and advice should also be clarified.

The committee said the "dearth of information" about the use of pension freedoms and Pension Wise made assessing progress "very difficult". It called for the government to "address these omissions urgently" and introduce a research programme tracking consumer outcomes.

The committee also said the take-up of Pension Wise, had been "lower than many anticipated" and the Pension Wise website was "not fit for purpose". 

"It is static, offering no opportunities for personalisation, and lags well behind many private services," said the committee in the report.

The committee recommended "stronger signposting" to the service by pension providers and a "more personalised guidance" incorporating an enquirer's wider financial circumstances and interactive features such as an income calculator. 

Frank Field, Labour chair of the committee, said: "Reluctance to provide information about how a reform or service is working is rarely a good sign. It is very difficult for the government to support its claims that all is well, or for us to make any assessment of progress, when no data is forthcoming despite repeated requests.

"These reforms have been in operation for six months now: it is evident that that has been long enough for the scammers to get going, working on defrauding people out of their life savings - it should be long enough for government to have published some data about how the reforms and the attendant guidance and advice are working."

This article appeared in our October 2015 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
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Topics:
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