Government responds to Work and Pensions Committee recommendations on scams and financial guidance
Proposals to implement pensions cold-calling ban will be implemented “swiftly” - but no date set
Pension Wise trials digital guidance appointments with users in bid to boost engagement
Auto-guidance off the table for now as policymakers examine “innovative ways” to boost take-up
Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, comments: “The Government continues to talk tough on tackling pension scams but we still have no idea when the proposed ban on cold-calling will come into place. It has now been well over a year since the ban was originally announced and almost three years since the pension freedoms were launched. It is unacceptable that policymakers have taken so long to introduce such an important consumer protection measure and implementation should now be fast-tracked.
“The Government’s work around boosting Pension Wise guidance is more positive, however. By engaging with providers to test innovative ways to boost take-up – including potentially automatic guidance – we can ensure engagement and understanding of retirement saving is improved without creating unnecessary unintended consequences.
“This testing should cover a range of different nudges at different points in the retirement savings journey. The House of Lords auto-guidance amendment, while well intentioned, raised more questions than answers and risked creating a pension transfer pile-up, and the Government was right to replace it. But increasing take-up of guidance and advice remains the right goal and it’s important all stakeholders work together on solutions that will achieve this aim.”