Pension scams: work and pensions committee inquiry

26 February 2021

On 27 January 2021, the Work and Pensions Committee (WPC) questioned Guy Opperman, Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, as part of its inquiry into pension scams. During the session, the Minister made the following comments:

• New regulations under clause 125 of the Pension Schemes Bill aiming to curb transfer fraud should be introduced ‘by September or October 2021’;
• He is in favour of a ‘mid-life MOT’ to help members consider their retirement choices at an earlier stage than current ‘wake-up’ packs, and is looking to take this forward; and
• HM Treasury are currently evaluating the Pensions Advice Allowance (PAA) and will report back in 2021. The PAA was introduced in 2017 and allows pension scheme members, in prescribed circumstances, to access their DC pension savings to pay for retirement advice. The Minister considers the PAA a good product but it arrives “late in the day” in that many people will have reached a conclusion about their pension savings before they reach retirement age. As such, he would like the issue to be tackled a lot earlier in people’s lives, e.g. when they reach 45 or 47.

From the Team at Equiniti