Nearly 18,000 free Pension Wise guidance sessions have taken place since the service’s inception, HM Treasury has revealed.
The free service was launched shortly before 6 April to offer face-to-face and telephone guidance for those considering using the pension freedoms.
But Adrian Walker, retirement planning manager at Old Mutual Wealth, said the figures showed take-up was low.
He said: “These numbers from the Treasury would seem to echo our own research which suggests just 1 per cent of those aware of the reforms have currently taken up the option to speak to Pension Wise.
“Restricting eligibility to those above age 55 and looking to access their pension savings would have severely limited the numbers who were going to initially use the service, as would the ban on promoting the service during the purdah period ahead of the election in May.”
Last month Chancellor George Osborne announced that 60,000 people had made use of the pension freedoms, withdrawing £1bn from their pots.
In July’s Budget it was announced there would be an expansion of Pension Wise allowing those aged 50 and over to use it.
Adviser view
Sebastian Hurst, a chartered financial planner with London-based Plutus Wealth Management, said: “New clients we have had since April have not come via Pension Wise at all and are coming to us wanting to take their pension as cash.
“We would wish that they had looked at it and understood a bit better what they are getting involved in.”
