Editor's blog: Another month, another delay from the pensions ombudsman on releasing decisions on its pile of pensions liberation cases – decisions that could help scheme representatives facing extremely difficult choices on suspect pensions transfers.
Last week, as our sister title FTAdviser.com reported, the ombudsman announced pensions liberation complaints would not be published until the autumn:
Source: FTAdviser.com
At the end of last month the organisation told Pensions Expert the decisions would be announced in the following few weeks – this after a previous July deadline had fallen by the wayside.
"The hope is that once we’ve published some decisions it will become clearer for trustees and pension providers generally what their obligations are, when they are put in the difficult position of having to decide whether to allow a member to transfer or not,” said ombudsman Tony King at the time.
Which is correct, and exactly why the consistent delays are so frustrating for scheme representatives, who are under a legal obligation to pay transfers, but terrified of signing off on something that could materially damage their scheme members' retirement prospects.
Last week as our sister title FTAdviser.com reported the ombudsman announced pensions liberation complaints would not be published until the autumn:
Source: FTAdviser.com
At the end of last month the organisation told Pensions Expert the decisions would be announced in the following few weeks – this after a previous July deadline had fallen by the wayside.
"The hope is that once we’ve published some decisions it will become clearer for trustees and pension providers generally what their obligations are, when they are put in the difficult position of having to decide whether to allow a member to transfer or not,” said ombudsman Tony King at the time.
Which is correct, and exactly why the consistent delays are so frustrating for scheme representatives, who are under a legal obligation to pay transfers, but terrified of signing off on something that could materially damage their scheme members' retirement prospects.
The stakes are incredibly high, as demonstrated in Andrew Warwick-Thompson's comment piece for us last month reporting one victim that had lost her home as a result of the unforeseen tax hit, and another who took his own life when a promised lump sum did not materialise.
No one doubts the difficulty of the decisions that face the ombudsman in these uniquely challenging circumstances.
"The pension liberation cases that we are looking at need very careful consideration – in particular of the detail of the transferring and receiving schemes," said its most recent statement, adding that it needs to ask for extra information in most cases.
But for those of us who have observed for more than a year now the "truly invidious" spot that trustees have been in, it is clear the industry needs to stand up and demand the ombudsman speed up this process.
I've contacted the body, and will update this blog if I receive any further explanation.
