"The wider problem is that it highlights a possible systemic issue to ambulance chasing claims firms, who might encourage anyone who has transferred to try it on and make a claim even where the issue might have been trivial or irrelevant to any claim. It's a great excuse for claims firms now PPI is done."
Keeley Paddon, head of pensions technical at SimplyBiz, said her company’s pensions help desk was currently receiving more than 2,000 enquiries a month.
She said: “Following the arrival of pension freedom, there is an imbalance in the market around the number of clients who want - and need – advice on pension transfers and the number of advisers qualified to provide that advice.
“To further compound the issue, some advisers who are qualified to give advice on DB pension transfers opt out of doing so, generally due to resource issues or concerns about time or risk implications.
“Doing nothing is not an option; advisers need to be able to help clients who come to them with pension transfer queries, whether that involves referring to a specialist or getting the qualifications, permissions and experience necessary to give advice in this area themselves.”
As a result of its study, in June the FCA proposed changes including requiring transfer advice to be provided as a personal recommendation, and replacing the current transfer value analysis with a comparison to show the value of the benefits being given up.
An FCA spokeswoman said: “The FCA is carrying out ongoing supervision work looking at firms who are most active in the DB pension transfer advice market.
"Our work to date has given us reason to continue to look at firms active in this market, and this area will continue to be a supervisory focus for the FCA.”
Compliance support services provider Bankhall was also asked to comment but did not do so.
damian.fantato@ft.com
