Calls for the ban on pension cold-calling to be implemented sooner
The Work and Pensions Select Committee says the Government needs to introduce new legislation as soon as next year to help prevent pensioners losing their life savings. Although the Government has already confirmed it would look to introduce a ban on pension cold-calling, legislation was not expected to be passed until 2020.
The Select Committee is therefore now putting pressure on the Government to introduce legislation much sooner than it had previously planned to prevent more individuals being scammed out of their pension savings.
In addition to introducing legislation banning cold-calling the Select Committee has also called for savers to be automatically offered guidance when considering accessing their pension pots using the pension freedoms rules that were introduced in April 2015. These rules allow anyone over the age of 55 to take some or their entire pension as a lump sum with up to 25% being paid tax-free.
The chair of the Select Committee Labour MP Frank Field said “Every day that passes without a ban, people are being avoidably conned out of their life savings.”
The Committee also warned that the scale of the problem was likely to be grossly underestimated by official reports and may not be apparent for many years.
In the meantime, if you suspect you have been contacted by a pension scammer please contact TPAS for help. You can call them on 0300 123 1047 or visit the TPAS website at www.thepensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk for free pensions advice and information.
