A paean to our premium pensions minister

How refreshing it has been over the past five years to have a minister who not only grasps the subject but is genuinely interested in it.

You may not have agreed with everything that has happened to pensions. I certainly have one or two gripes.

But throughout his tenure he has shown a deep understanding, and a willingness to listen and deliver reforms that were sorely needed.

There is not a hope in hell that we would we have seen even a tiny part of the revolution that has occurred in this parliament without him.

In five years he has delivered a flat rate pension, signalled the end of means-testing and freed investors from the insurers’ annuity stranglehold. That is more than his many predecessors achieved in 13 years.

Yes, there have been things that are hard to swallow, such as the rising state pension age – but that had to happen.

Throughout his tenure, Steve Webb has shown a deep understanding, and a willingness to listen

The lower £1m lifetime allowance cap is another unwelcome change – though whether that came from him or the Treasury we cannot know.

When I interviewed him shortly after the last general election he was like a child in a cake shop.

The fact that he has remained in the post and managed to carry through so much reform is a reflection of his willingness to work with the Conservatives in order to achieve an important outcome for millions of pensioners.

Of course, Mr Webb may re-emerge in the same role in whatever government takes charge after the general election. Though at the moment that seems doubtful.

All I hope is that the pensions minister does not again becoming the revolving door job it was under Labour.

Pensions is a subject that should be taken seriously by politicians because they are vital to the country’s economic wellbeing as well as to our lives as individuals.

The fact that Labour fails to take them seriously is, I suspect, a reflection of the fact that so much of its support lies within the public sector, where defined benefit pensions still rule. But enough of the sniping.

We now have a sensible state pension, and private pensions are the kind of flexible investments that should benefit the general public rather than being cash cows for insurance companies.

The purpose of this column is purely to say – thank you Steve Webb. It has been a joy to witness your revolution.

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Run for cover

I was a little disturbed to receive a press release from Post Office Money about a new home insurance product for the over-55s.

Second on the list of “impressive benefits” was £10,000 personal assault cover.

I am not complaining about this being available, I am just a little surprised at it being given such prominence.

Is assault on the over-55s so common that cover for it has become a prime feature of insurance policies aimed at them?

I checked the Office for National Statistics’ most recent crime survey data for illumination.

This shows, as I suspected, that the 16 to 24 age group has the greatest chance of being a victim of a violent crime, with one in 20 reporting an incident in 2013/14.

Among the 55 to 64 age group it is 0.9 per cent, falling to 0.3 per cent for the 65 to 74 group and 0.1 per cent for the over-75s.

The rest of the highlighted cover seems far more relevant to the over-55s – such as £1,500 for garden contents.

Now what I think would be useful in this and similar policies would be personal liability cover for people mown down by speeding mobility scooters.

This is a growing risk that insurers really should be taking on.

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Survival of the fittest

One of the side benefits of the pensions revolution has been the emergence of new annuity products offering 30-year guarantees and value protection.

These are likely to be esoteric products suitable only for very specific circumstances.

But there will be uses for each – perhaps someone might want an inheritance paid annually rather than being given as a lump sum.

It will be interesting to see how many annuities are sold as the new pensions world settles down.

One benefit that I have no doubt will come is that where annuities are chosen they are likely to be more suitable than some that have been fobbed off on investors in the past.

To compete in the new world they will have to show value against the alternatives available.