The pensions industry is expected to spend £25m over a four-year period to get its data ready for the pension dashboards, a pensions expert has warned.
As first reported by FTAdviser's sister title Pensions Expert, Margaret Snowdon, president of the Pensions Administration Standards Association told the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association’s annual conference in Manchester on Wednesday (October 16) that data was “the one big elephant in the room” for administrators and pension schemes.
She said: “I don’t think that the data we use is good enough for good pensions management and I don’t think it’s good enough for dashboards.”
Part of the Pension Schemes Bill is devoted to the creation of a framework to support the dashboard project, including new rules to compel pension schemes to provide accurate information to consumers.
FTAdviser reported today that pension providers that fail to provide data for the pension dashboards could be fined up to £50,000 by The Pensions Regulator.
Pension dashboards will ensure people throughout the UK have easy access to information about their pensions, who manages them and what they are worth.
The department for Work and Pensions confirmed in December it will introduce multiple pension dashboards, with the first one being developed by the government's guidance body, the Money and Pensions Service.
An industry delivery group brought together by the guidance body will set out a timetable for other fully operational dashboards, as well as setting standards and ensuring security across the portals.
Ms Snowdon said: “I do think we’ll see some big strides in data, either by using a carrot which I’d quite like to do, but the alternative is a big stick.”
She added: “I’m really pleased to say a lot of progress is being made by administrators to improve member service, to improve efficiency, but it’s very hard to do that when funds are constrained.”
October 17: This article has been amended to reflect that providers face costs of £25m, not £25bn as previously stated.
maria.espadinha@ft.com
