The government will introduce a ban on cold calling this autumn.
HM Treasury confirmed draft regulations on the ban will be published in autumn and the prohibition itself will come into force 21 days after the day on which they are made.
The announcement was made today (29 October) as the government published its response to the consultation on this matter alongside the Budget.
The government will go ahead with its plan to ban on cold-callering, which will include emails and texts, after this was announced in August 2017.
It will be enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which recently received new powers to fine bosses of companies which plague people with unsolicited cold calls by as much as £500,000.
The government also revealed that once the regulations have passed and in the lead up to the ban coming into force, it "will work with partners to proactively communicate the message that pensions cold calling will become illegal".
When the ban comes into force the ICO will also publish guidance to support industry to keep within the law, it noted.
An amendment was introduced to the Financial Claims and Guidance Act 2018 to ban pension cold calls but as the deadline of the end of June loomed there was confusion around whether the Treasury or the Department for Work and Pensions was responsible for delivering the ban.
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said: "finally, subject to parliamentary approval, the government is going to implement the ban on pension cold-calling.
"Although we still haven’t got a date, we welcome this commitment and are hopeful the ban will become a reality sooner rather than later.
"The pension cold-calling ban has been long-time coming and although it won’t be the panacea, a ban will go some way to protecting people from pension scammers.
"For the ban to be effective, it needs to be accompanied by a public awareness campaign. So we’re pleased to see that the government will work with partners to make sure people are aware that pension cold-calling will be illegal, once the ban is in place."
maria.espadinha@ft.com
