The long awaited and much overdue ban on pension scammers cold calling savers has been put on the back burner by ministers.
Although the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has repeatedly stated since February that the ban was going to be introduced, the date has slipped further back.
To be fair, the DWP never said when the ban would start, citing Parliamentary time filled with Brexit legislation as the main reason for the delay.
But now John Glen, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury has confirmed the ban will not come into force any time soon.
“Pensions cold calling is an important and complex issue. Pensions scams can have devastating consequences and cold calling is the most common method used to initiate pensions scams, so the government has taken the time to ensure the ban works for consumers,” he has told Parliament.
Consultation on the way
“The government will imminently publish a consultation seeking views on a set of draft regulations to ban pensions cold calling.
“Once we have considered all responses to the consultation, in the autumn we intend to lay regulations under the affirmative procedure and subject to parliamentary approval bring the regulations into force as soon as possible thereafter.”
The ban was first mooted in November 2017 to stop pension scammers conning pension savers out of their retirement cash.
The firms typically contact savers randomly to offer a free pension review.
When will ban start?
The offer is usually accompanied by a bid to move pension investments offshore where they can allegedly gain a higher return.
Some savers are offered cash backs or loans against their pensions.
All these ploys are illegal.
So what is the state of play with the ban?
The Financial Guidance and Claims Bill which includes provisions for the ban received royal assent in May 2018, but the provisions were not activated at the same time.
The regulations required to make the ban law are yet to go before Parliament and the suggestion is the ban may not be put in place until 2020, just before the next general election is due.
Government figures suggest scammers have conned pension savers out of around £50 million.
