Which? urges Government to act on pensions dashboard

Which? is calling on the Government to use the forthcoming Budget to work with industry and introduce a ‘pensions dashboard’ without delay.

New Which? research published today has found that nearly half (47%) of people aged over 50, employed and with a personal pension, were not confident about the money they had saved for their retirement.

We also found:

  • a fifth (21%) say they have never checked how much they have saved in total in their pension pot(s)
  • Four in 10 (37%) say they find it difficult to keep track of their pension pots
  • a third (34%) say doing this is time consuming and
  • a fifth (21%) say they would not know how to find out about the details of their pot(s)

Which? supports the reforms that now give people more freedom and choice in how to access their pension savings. However, we are calling on the Government to lead on the introduction of a ‘pensions dashboard’ without delay, to give people easy access to all the key information about their pensions and savings in one place.

Which? research has also found six in 10 (58%) are worried about the value of their pension and less than one in three (27%) trust longer-term financial products such as pensions.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has previously announced that it will work with the Government to develop a Pensions Dashboard in the longer term. But so far there has been no public commitment from the Government for the creation of a dashboard, and no timeline for its testing or implementation.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd, said:

“Deciding on a retirement income is one of the most complex financial decisions people face, but it can be difficult to find how much money you have built up over your working life.

“A pensions and savings dashboard would go a long way to providing people with a complete picture of their retirement fund and, in turn, help them make the right choices. We are calling on the Government to use the Budget to push ahead with this idea and help people to secure better retirement income.”

As part of the ‘Better Pensions’ campaign, Which? wants the Government, regulator and pension providers to make sure everyone can fully benefit from the pension freedoms by:

  • Introducing a pensions dashboard to enable people to see all their pensions in one place;
  • Protecting savers when they take money out of their pension, especially those who do not make an active choice;
  • Safeguarding savings in schemes that go bust, and;
  • Publishing a review of the impact of the reforms and how they have delivered for consumers, before the end of 2016.

Notes to editors:

  1. Key findings: Populus, on behalf of Which?, interviewed 1178 UK adults online between 27th January and 3rd February 2016: 504 UK adults had retired in the last 5 years and have a personal pension, 674 were over 50 years, employed and have a personal pension. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
  2. Which? expects the Government to continue to coordinate and facilitate the development of the dashboard, setting the data standards and framework for the platform. The Government should use the Budget to confirm its commitment, and publicly outline its expectation for the industry, working with consumer groups, to deliver the service within a fixed timeframe.
  3. Similar systems have been implemented in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.
  4. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220405/small-pension-pots-consultation.pdf
  5. Worry and trust statistics: Populus, on behalf of Which?, interviewed 2054 UK adults online between 13th and 14th January 2016. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of the UK population.
  6. To find out more about the ‘Better Pensions’ campaign, please click here.

Press Release