The Pensions Ombudsman has revealed personal pensions complaints have leapt from accounting for 25 per cent of completed investigations in 2014 to 2015 to 46 per cent in 2015 to 2016.
Pensions Ombudsman Anthony Arter said there has been a marked increase in the number of personal pension complaints coming to his office, with the biggest increase being about self-invested personal pensions.
The Pensions Ombudsman’s statistics come after the Financial Ombudsman Service revealed that Sipp complaints have risen by a third during the second quarter of 2015 to 2016 compared to the same period last year.
Just over 200 complaints concerning suspected pension liberation were received, while 180 complaints of a similar nature were accepted last year.
According to the Pos, pension liberation cases accounted for 20 per cent of all completed investigations, whilst personal pension complaints accounted for 46 per cent of its investigations.
Last year Standard Life’s head of pensions strategy Jamie Jenkins warned that there had been a steady increase in pension liberation over the last 18 months following chancellor George Osborne’s decision to allow savers greater access to their pension pots.
The Pensions Ombudsman report also revealed the organisation stayed within budget, with costs of £3.38m in total.
Cost per case amounted to £942 and per completed investigation £2,584.
In total, the Pensions Ombudsman Service reported 1,363 cases were taken on in 2015 to 2016, 6 per cent more than last year, and 5,000 enquiries were received, 18 per cent more than in 2014 to 2015.
A total of 63 per cent of cases were resolved informally by the service’s adjudicators and 37 per cent formally with an ombudsman’s decision.
This was a reversal on last year’s position when 44 per cent of cases were resolved informally and 56 per cent formally.
Additionally, around 40 per cent of cases formally decided by an ombudsman were upheld or partly upheld.
A total of 11 new cases for investigation were accepted in the year about the actions of the Pension Protection Fund.
John Stirling, chartered financial planner at Essex-based Walden Capital said it was quite interesting that there are no figures for percentage of cases upheld when informally settled by adjudicatiors.
He said: “Given the widespread believe that the Financial Ombudsman can be inconsistent in its judgements it would be nice to see whether the Pensions Ombudsman and their adjudicators are singing from a single sheet - or whether there are inconsistencies in the application of judgement between adjudicators and ombudsman.
“At two cases per week per employee it is tempting to say that a bit more focus could drive down that cost per case, but ultimately it is important that our ombudsmen take the time they need to reach a fair and balanced decision.
“They are the last line of consumer protection within Financial Services, and whether you are a fan or not, their effectiveness is essential for the success of the financial services industry.”
ruth.gillbe@ft.com
