Putting measures in place to stop scammers targeting those looking to do a defined benefit transfer could help solve professional indemnity issues for advisers, according to the pensions minister.
In the latest edition of the FTAdviser podcast, senior reporter Amy Austin was joined by Guy Opperman, minister for pensions and financial inclusion to discuss plans to reassess the pensions advice allowance, the dwindling supply of defined benefit pension transfer advice, and his work cracking down on scams.
Opperman acknowledged there was an issue with scammers targeting people wishing to transfer out of their pensions and that this had an effect on the availability of professional indemnity insurance for well-meaning advisers.
Opperman said: “If we can reform the market with the Pension Schemes Bill and the work that we are doing on transfers then I think the number of scams will go down, which in turn means the insurance issues will go down.
“There will generally be a greater confidence in the system and greater confidence in IFAs on an ongoing basis.
“I think there is work the FCA needs to be doing but we also need to tackle problems at the sharp end.”
Opperman said data has shown the DB transfer advice market is shrinking, but there is still access to advice for those that need it.
He said the policy where savers must seek advice on transfers worth more than £30,000 “will continue” which means there must always be some access to advisers in this market.
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