PensionsApr 25 2022

LV and B&CE among slowest providers for pension switching

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LV and B&CE among slowest providers for pension switching
Pexels; Ron Lach

Fintech company Origo has today (April 25) published data showing how long pension providers took on average to process a pension switching request in the year to March 2022.

B&CE Financial Services was the slowest at 29.8 days, followed closely by LV with 29 days.

B&CE said it was working hard to improve its time.

Tim Gosling, head of pensions policy at B&CE, said: “We’re aware that during the pandemic our response times to transfer requests suffered and we’re in the process of recruiting and training additional team members, and implementing new technology integrations in our operational function, which will result in improved transfer times."

LV also said it was "actively developing improvements" to its processes to reduce the timeframe for clients.

A spokesperson said: “Whilst we have improvements to transfer times over the past few months, we also recognise we still have some way to go in order to meet the service we want to be able to provide and this continues to be a key area of focus for us in 2022.”

Meanwhile, Origo said there were notable improvements for Hargreaves Lansdown, with an overall transfer time of 21.2 calendar days, down from 29.6 days in January 2022 and halving the transfer time from 43.3 days recorded in April 2021.

Danny Cox, head of external relations at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “We’ve made some good improvements over the past year, and we’re looking to improve transfer times further as we continue to invest in our digital backbone. 

“We believe that publishing our transfer data is the right thing to do and can help drive better client outcomes – we encourage all other firms to do the same.”

Quilter also has improved its transfer times from 29.8 calendar days in January 2022 to 18.7 days in the latest data.

A spokesperson said: “We’re pleased our transfer speeds continue to improve. Transfers between providers should be simple and quick, and we are working hard to make sure this happens.”

NFU Mutual has consistently been the best performer in 2021, previouysly averaging 6.1 days overall for transfers, and 4.6 days for simpler transfers in the latest 12-month period.

It remained in the top spot  with an overall transfer time of 5.3 calendar days.

It was followed by MetLife which stood at 6.6 days, Forester Life (6.8 days), Canada Life (8.1 days) and Fidelity (8.8 days).

Source: Origo Transfer Index - April 2022

Providers’ pension switching times have remained constant for the quarter to the end of March, with switches taking an average of 13.5 days to complete.

Data from Origo showed the average stayed consistent at 13.5, only slightly higher than the 13.4 days in January 2022. 

Simpler transfers took an average across the group of 11.4 calendar days.  

According to Origo, simple transfers are those where the ceding provider has complete control over the entire ceding process, therefore they are not complicated by external factors. 

The data revealed that 86.9 per cent of transfers completed in the quarter were of the ‘simpler’ variety with a median transfer time of just 6.3 calendar days.

The index is produced on a quarterly basis and shows average switching times over the previous 12 months through the Origo Transfer Service.

Elsewhere, Smart Pension became the latest provider to join the Origo Transfer Index.

Anthony Rafferty, chief executive officer at Origo, said: “The Origo Transfer Index was established to bring transparency to the market. Participation is voluntary and we are extremely pleased that Smart Pension is the latest provider to see the value to the industry of contributing its data to the Index, which includes most of the leading providers in the market.

“These providers are going to be among those delivering the fastest transfer times, facilitated by the Origo Transfer Service. They are setting the benchmark for the rest of the industry to follow.”

sonia.rach@ft.com

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