Advisers should ask members approached by pension liberators the following, according to Helen Dreyfuss, pensions technical specialist of The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS):
1) How they were approached? Have they received cold calls, unsolicited emails or text messages?
2) Have they taken advice?
3) Have they been advised by a non-regulated adviser? Check whether the adviser is approved by the FCA at www.fca.org.uk/register.
4) Whether they have been pressured to carry out the transfer as quickly as possible? Were couriers sent to collect documents?
5) Whether they have received documentation from the new scheme?
6) If they have been told they can access their pension before age 55?
7) If they have been told about charges and tax consequences?
If several of these features are present, Ms Dreyfuss says there should be cause for concern. Individuals should be directed to the Pension Scam leaflets, Action Fraud and the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS), she says.
Ms Dreyfuss says: “Action Fraud has a role in pension scams, as they collect information on crimes, they pass this to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau who decide whether they have sufficient Intel to take action.
“Albeit passing the information to the Pensions Regulator or getting a relevant local police force to investigate.
“When individuals ring Action Fraud they are given a crime reference number, and Action Fraud will write to them to let them know if any action is being taken, within 28 days.”
Claire Trott, head of technical support at Talbot & Muir, says even if the client decides to go against the advisers recommendations not to proceed with the pension liberator, Action Fraud should be notified anyway.
David Trenner, technical director of Intelligent Pensions, says the key thing an advisers should always do in these circumstances is tell the client there are better ways to raise cash.
Where possible, Mr Trenner says advisers should warn the scheme trustees not to pay the transfer value.
Although there is legislation providing timescales for schemes to pay a transfer, Mr Trenner says these are clearly open to interpretation.
He says it has taken the Pensions Ombudsman several months to fail to reach a conclusion on some 80 complaints about delayed transfers, suggesting the issue is clearly not one that is seen as black and white.
