Pensions Minister asks providers to be ‘fairer’

A government minister has called for pension providers to stop applying excessive charges to their schemes. Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, warned that the government may choose to cap fees if companies do not address the problem and help to repair the industry’s “battered reputation”.

Mr Webb, said he wanted to see the companies acting “fairer” to those with pension funds, who sometimes have to pay up to four per cent of the fund’s value in fees every year. Unforeseen charges and the cost of changing pension schemes can cost investors tens of thousands of pounds. In a newspaper article, the Liberal Democrat MP wrote:

“I would like to see the leading companies look again at their ‘back book’ of old pension policies. They should ask themselves if the battered reputation of their industry would not be greatly enhanced if they were to revisit these schemes and offer scheme members fairer terms.”

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