The Association of British Insurers has published a new Statement of Good Practice on Pension Maturities to help make transferring pension funds into annuities easier.
The statement sets standards for dealing with the process of transferring the consumer’s pension fund between providers and implementing a timely commencement of benefits. Delays have sometimes occurred during this process because customers and their financial advisers have not provided insurance companies with complete or wholly accurate information.
This new Statement of Good Practice will help to make the process of converting a pension pot into an annuity quicker and smoother. In addition, we hope that the Statement will further improve knowledge and understanding of the annuities market, in particular the consumers’ right to shop around to get the best deal rather that automatically buying an annuity from their existing pension provider, said Helen McCarthy, the ABI’s head of pensions and savings development.