Personal Pensions (Hansard, 16 July 1998)

§ Mrs. Liddell

On 17 June 1998,Official Report, columns 208–10, I published figures showing the progress being made in the period ending 31 May by the 41 firms I have been monitoring for the last year. The table shows the progress made in the period up to the end of June by 29 of the 41 firms. Most of these firms have continued to make good progress, and only 3 firms have resolved under 50 per cent. of their cases. These are networks of independent financial advisers, and were among the firms I met on 7 July.

When I met senior representatives of the 41 firms last summer, I challenged them to meet or to better the targets set for them by the regulators, and made clear to them that I would publish progress statistics collected from them monthly. In my oral statement to the House on 18 November 1997, Official Report, columns 155–63, I said that I would remove from this list the name of any firm once it had achieved its target for resolving priority cases.

The Personal Investment Authority (PIA) have informed me that information provided to them indicates that, consistent with the deadlines they were set, 12 firms appear to have made every proper effort to obtain investors' acceptance of offers of redress. The names of these 12 firms have therefore been removed from the list. The firms are AXA Equity & Law, Barclays Life, Britannic Assurance, Commercial Union, Godwins, Guardian, Lloyds TSB, Midland Bank, Norwich Union, Prudential, Royal and Sun Alliance and United Assurance.

I should emphasise, however, that this does not mean that their work is over. The regulators will continue to monitor firms to see that they follow through on offers of redress in a timely manner and establish the arrangements necessary to honour guarantees of pensions rights. Looking to the future, firms must also tackle the next phase of the review of personal pensions, which in general terms concerns the cases of people whose need for redress is less urgent. This second phase of the review was the subject of a consultation by the regulators ending in May this year, and they will shortly be announcing the way forward. I hope all firms will respond constructively.

275W

Progress by pensions firms in resolving cases of personal pensions mis-selling in the period to the end of june 1998
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Over 75% of cases resolved
CIS	43,679	5,346	31,446	13,395	18,051	14,249	33	76
IFA Network	365	122	161	107	54	48	13	76
Sedgwick	16,597	8,673	4,348	1,665	2,683	2,417	15	77
Sun Life of Canada	28,038	11,730	12,386	2,380	10,006	8,508	30	81
Albany Life	2,970	666	2,107	195	1,912	1,537	52	81
Equitable Life	7,584	1,895	4,657	1,691	2,966	2,687	35	83
Allied Dunbar	19,385	4,133	13,413	3,687	9,726	8,246	43	83
M&E Network	319	175	108	28	77	65	20	84
Hogg Robinson	2,226	810	1,191	401	790	675	30	85
Legal & General	36,738	15,093	19,363	1,812	17,551	14,668	40	86
Pearl	47,125	3,956	39,500	5,633	33,867	31,548	67	87
Wesleyan	4,185	293	3,535	1,001	2,534	2,368	57	88
Royal London	12,971	1,140	11,694	1,521	10,173	9,569	74	94

A: cases identified as requiring review

B: of A, cases where investor was informed that information gained during assessment excluded cases from review

C: number of assessments completed

D: cases where the investor has been informed that no redress is due

E: cases where redress has been offered

F: cases where redress has been accepted

G: cases where redress has been accepted as a percentage of cases identified for review ((F/A)x100)

H: cases resolved, including exclusions, as a percentage of cases identified for review (((B+D+F)/A)x100)

Progress by pensions firms in resolving cases of personal pensions mis-selling in the period to the end of June 1998
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Under 50% of cases resolved
DBS	1,965	400	392	101	291	165	8	34
Financial options	399	146	48	22	26	24	6	48
Burns Anderson	1,210	335	327	150	132	99	8	48
50–75% of cases resolved
Gan	11,915	1,610	6,242	661	5,581	4,305	36	55
Countrywide	4,879	2,501	281	172	109	85	2	57
Abbey Life	17,544	4,768	6,904	1,096	5,808	5,158	29	63
Lincoln National	13,342	1,934	7,789	1,174	6,615	5,302	40	63
Windsor Life	9,582	3,505	3,060	299	2,761	2,258	24	63
London and Manchester	8,466	1,356	4,862	558	4,304	3,859	46	68
Hill Samuel	6,150	867	3,845	661	3,184	2,855	46	71
Colonial	8,495	2,724	4,094	474	3,620	2,918	34	72
Friends Provident	6,994	1,104	4,419	660	3,759	3,307	47	73
Canada Life	5,593	376	4,270	605	3,665	3,119	56	73
Nat West	15,208	4,647	7,631	1,108	6,523	5,479	36	74
Berkeley Independent	181	111	23	19	4	4	2	74
Standard Life	7,130	825	4,892	1,106	3,786	3,349	47	74