Pensions Mis-selling (Hansard, 8 April 1998)

§ Mrs. Liddell

Today, I have placed in the Library a table showing what progress has been made by the 41 firms the Government have been monitoring in the period up to 31 March 1998. The table shows that,

Progress by pension firms in completing reviews of personal pensions mis-selling in the period to the end of March 1998
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Under 25 per cent. of cases resolved:
DBS	3,392	128	222	68	154	105	3	9
25–50 per cent of cases resolved:
Gan	11,369	867	4,417	556	3,861	2,927	26	38
Financial Options	353	108	36	19	17	14	4	40
Lincoln National	13,326	1,483	5,556	1,042	4,514	2,881	22	41
Burns Anderson	1,080	276	178	102	76	61	6	41
Countrywide	4,759	1,875	262	165	97	77	2	44
Windsor Life	9,475	2,837	1,958	276	1,682	1,402	15	48
50–75 per cent. of cases resolved:
Standard Life	6,947	677	3,305	919	2,386	2,110	30	53
Abbey Life	17,354	4,251	6,200	912	5,288	4,183	24	54
Friends Provident	6,876	979	3,259	493	2,766	2,428	35	57
CIS	43,039	3,640	25,973	12,897	3,076	8,448	20	58
Canada Life	5,528	307	3,447	549	2,901	2,354	43	58
Colonial	8,242	2,238	3,205	360	2,845	2,219	27	58
London and Manchester	8,255	1,154	4,073	511	3,562	3,175	38	59
Royal & Sun Alliance	15,753	2,350	7,980	941	7,039	6,020	38	59
IFA Network	267	54	107	76	31	29	11	60
Hill Samuel	6,026	791	3,234	623	2,611	2,191	36	60
Sun Life of Canada	26,969	7,594	10,330	1,988	8,342	6,886	26	61
National Westminster	14,637	4,162	6,277	1,040	5,237	4,076	28	63
Allied Dunbar	18,867	3,358	10,735	3,149	7,586	6,066	32	67
Albany Life	2,931	587	1,799	161	1,638	1,253	43	68
United Assurance	12,962	1,061	9,993	1,927	8,066	5,891	45	69
Britannic	19,120	4,740	10,423	2,638	7,785	5,809	30	69
Equitable Life	7,384	1,693	3,761	1,460	2,301	2,024	27	70
Sedgwick	15,669	7,818	3,719	1,459	2,260	1,996	13	72
Berkeley Independent	143	87	18	14	4	3	2	73
Guardian	8,976	1,160	6,081	932	5,149	4,547	51	74
Over 75 per cent of cases resolved:
Legal & General	36,726	14,568	16,131	1,590	14,541	11,390	31	75
M&E Network	302	167	65	24	41	37	12	75
Lloyd's TSB	49,062	10,840	28,883	6,093	22,790	20,371	42	76
Commercial Union	7,747	1,246	5,137	767	4,370	3,969	51	77
Godwins	1,478	109	1,229	441	788	611	41	79
Royal London	12,355	1,112	9,590	1,404	8,186	7,281	59	79

248W

in line with the trend established in recent months, firms have continued to make progress, with some 69 per cent. of their priority cases now completed.

The Government continue to look to firms for their ongoing commitment to deliver the priority targets. I hope they will also work constructively with the regulators on the second phase of the review, building on the consultation launched by the Financial Services Authority and the Personal Investment Authority last month. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has set the right tone at the start of the process, and I hope that its pragmatic approach to the issues raised by phase 2 of the review will continue over the months ahead.

I have raised in this house on a number of occasions my concern that all pension firms, not just the large firms I am monitoring, must get on with the personal pensions review. Ultimately, responsibility for conducting the reviews rests with the firm concerned—be it a large company or a small IFA. However experience does show that cooperation and collaboration between firms can lead to progress in finding solutions to technical problems which are widely encountered. Recently, ABI announced an initiative to assist and to encourage IFAs to carry out their reviews. These proposals give welcome recognition to the fact that each and every firm's good name is dependent on the reputation of the industry as a whole, and I hope that early implementation of the proposals is achieved.

249W

Progress by pension firms in completing reviews of personal pensions mis-selling in the period to the end of March 1998
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Wesleyan	4,173	255	3,285	956	2,329	2,103	50	79
Pearl	46,213	3,430	38,760	5,572	33,188	29,987	63	82
Norwich Union	7,389	2,233	4,619	728	3,891	3,261	44	84
Prudential	72,010	19,432	52,563	3,866	48,697	37,519	52	84
Barclays	16,981	6,197	9,411	2,169	7,242	6,265	37	86
Hogg Robinson	2,084	821	1,102	386	716	593	28	86
AXA Equity and Law	3,943	774	2,817	600	2,217	2,070	52	87
Midland	4,840	498	4,243	631	3,612	3,334	69	92

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)x 100).

H: Cases completed, including exclusions, as a percentage of cases identified for review (((B+D+F)/Ax100).