Members of the House of Lords have condemned the absence of a ban on pension cold calling in the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill.
The government's decision not to include in the Bill a ban on cold calling people about their pensions aimed at saving them from scammers - a move championed by an adviser - is being seen as a missed opportunity.
Darren Cooke, director at Red Circle Financial Planning, petitioned the government for the ban, and the Treasury stated last November that a complete ban on pensions cold calling would be included in chancellor Philip Hammond's Autumn Statement, which it was.
At the time of the announcement it was said it would stretch to the cold calling of people who have inadvertently opted in to receiving third party communications.
Violation of the ban could attract fines of up to £500,000, the Treasury stated.
The measure was not due to be in the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill, and can not be included in any Bill until the government has published its response on the matter, which had been expected prior to the general election.
But members of the House of Lords condemned the absence of any mention of the ban during the Bill's second reading yesterday (5 July).
Conservative Lord Holmes of Richmond told the House: "Let me say a word on scams.
"Before our recent leather-wearing, optimism-sapping break, we seemed to have a reasonable amount of support about cold calling, putting some limits on people exiting their pension plans under the new rules and tightening up on the ability of individuals and organisations to set up fraudulent schemes.
"The Bill is silent on all three.
"It would be helpful if the government would consider whether we might want to put them in in Committee and on Report because they are growing problems.
"They are not limited to pensions, but they are incredibly significant to pensions when one considers the costs and the implications of things going wrong for people at that age and stage of their lives."
During the debate, Liberal Democrat Lord Sharkey said: “We do not allow cold calling for mortgages; we should not allow cold calling for pensions, we should not allow cold calling for debt management companies or claims management companies, and we should not allow these companies to use contacts generated by third-party or arm’s-length cold calling.
"The Bill is silent on this. There are regrettable omissions, particularly in the case of the ban on pensions cold calling."
Former pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann, a vocal supporter of the ban, was also disappointed.
“If others do not, I hope to table a probing amendment in Committee on the issue, as it is one that I feel so strongly about and had hoped would be resolved. It is important that we can give the public the message that if someone cold calls them about their pension, they are breaking the law, so just hang up,” she said.
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon said the omission was "hugely disappointing".
"There is a certain irony too that this has been revealed during National Scams Awareness Month.
“Scammers are becoming more sophisticated and always finding new ways to target people's money, but tackling the prevalence of cold-calling is a simple step that could stamp out a lot of scammers’ underhanded tactics.
"With such widespread support for a cold calling ban it’s a shame it is not featured in the Bill. The industry must continue to put pressure on the government to ensure that legislation is brought back to the House in good time and not simply kicked into the long grass.”
A Treasury spokesperson said: “We take the issue of pension scams very seriously.
"We have consulted on measures to protect people from pensions fraud and we will set out our response shortly, including next steps on the cold calling ban.”
