Prudential has pledged to provide ‘appropriate redress’ following reports customers have been hit financially by administrative issues with its recently launched Retirement Account.
The firm is undertaking a review of the affected transactions and has apologised for problems caused by higher-than-expected demand for the product.
It follows reports that customers may have been incorrectly taxed, with one adviser struggling to take out a client’s income before the end of the 2016/17 tax year. Reports put the figure of customers affected at 17,000.
The Retirement Account was launched in September last year, combining a pension savings account and a pension income account in one place.
A Prudential spokesperson said: “The demand for our new Retirement Account has been much higher than we expected and unfortunately that has impacted the service we have been able to provide to customers and advisers.
“We’ve been working very hard to resolve this and I’m pleased to say that our service levels have now been restored. We want to ensure that no one has been financially disadvantaged and therefore we are reviewing relevant transactions and will be providing appropriate redress.
“We are very sorry for any problems this has caused for customers or advisers and we are writing to customers to apologise.”
In a separate statement today (26 June) the life company's advice arm, Prudential Financial Planning, announced the appointment of Peter Coleman to its executive management team as financial planning and strategy director.
Mr Coleman, latterly chief financial officer at life and protection specialist Lifesearch, will have responsibility for "developing and delivering Prudential Financial Planning’s growth strategy, securing its position as one of the UK’s leading advisory firms", according to the company.
simon.allin@ft.com
