HM Treasury News Release
110/97 18 September 1997
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HELEN LIDDELL SEES MORE PENSIONS FIRMS
Senior representatives from 17 more firms involved in
misselling of personal pensions were today called to a meeting
at the Treasury with Economic Secretary, Helen Liddell.
The Minister told the companies that they must get to work and
urgently review cases and put matters right where necessary.
Speaking following the meeting, Mrs Liddell said:
"No-one gets off the hook where misselling of personal
pensions may have occurred. Every firm must get on with
the urgent job of reviewing cases and provide redress
where it is due.
"My postbag is overflowing with letters from people
frustrated at the long delays they have encountered. It is
a public scandal that these people have had to wait so long
for help."
This meeting follows a similar one in May when the Minister
met with the top 24 firms. Mrs Liddell today again urged
companies to speed up their review of cases and better the
targets set by the Personal Investment Authority (PIA).
The Minister also published the third monthly table on the
progress of the top 24 firms with cases outstanding. The table
shows considerable variation in the firms' performance, with
some companies making real efforts to resolve cases, while
others lag behind.
Commenting on the figures, the Minister said:
"The figures this month are mixed. Some firms have
started to make real progress while others are still very
disappointing.
"I will not allow this issue to go away until the
companies have fulfilled their responsibilities."
Notes to Editors
1. Mrs Liddell met the 24 firms with most cases on 14 May.
The Treasury publishes monthly information about how fast
they are dealing with their cases. The figures for end
August are in table 1 attached.
2. The remaining 17 firms from the top 41, which Mrs Liddell
saw today, are listed in table 2 together with the
deadlines set by the Personal Investment Authority (PIA)
on 18 September.
3. So far the PIA has imposed the following fines for
offences connected with processing of personal pensions
cases:
April 1997: Berkeley Independent Advisers Limited was
fined 70,000 Pounds and reprimanded after
it admitted that it had failed to take all
reasonable steps to ensure that its
representative firms conduct pensions
reviews in accordance with the standards
established by PIA. The firm was also
ordered to pay costs of 15,000 Pounds.
August 1997: The M&E Network was fined 100,000 Pounds
and reprimanded for its failure to take
all reasonable steps to carry out the
review of its past pensions business in
accordance with the standards prescribed
by PIA. In particular, the firm had
delayed the mailing of pensions review
questionnaires to its clients, which is an
essential first step in the pensions
review process. The firm was also ordered
to pay costs of 25,000 Pounds.
September 1997: DBS Financial Management Ltd was fined
425,000 Pounds and reprimanded by PIA
after it admitted failing to take all
reasonable steps to carry out its review
of past pension business and to monitor
the review of pensions business transacted
by its representatives prior to joining
DBS. The firm was also required to pay
costs of 19,450 Pounds.
4. Sarah Modlock of the PIA press office can be reached on
0171 418 5231
Table 1
A B C D E F G H
Gan 9,419 60 270 95 175 113 1 3
Lincoln National 12,592 885 608 388 220 174 1 11
Britannic 13,508 0 2,229 1,107 1,122 806 6 14
Sun Life of Canada 25,706 2,983 1,525 158 1,367 1,096 4 16
London and Manchester 7,513 361 1,389 207 1,182 672 9 17
Royal London 9,507 195 1,761 665 1,096 767 8 17
United Assurance 12,141 525 1,870 805 1,065 855 7 18
Hogg Robinson 1,583 252 154 33 121 10 1 19
Pearl 39,824 1,111 11,035 2,137 8,898 4,131 10 19
Windsor Life 8,237 1,331 277 16 261 184 2 19
Sedgwick 9,818 1,509 840 419 421 247 3 22
Allied Dunbar 17,018 1,763 2,508 1,255 1,253 845 5 23
Prudential 60,724 2,756 18,279 1,537 16,742 9,971 16 23
CIS 42,514 1,472 9,190 7,358 1,832 1,243 3 24
Royal & Sun Alliance 15,143 1,296 2,990 483 2,507 2,005 13 25
Abbey Life 16,570 2,804 2,341 553 1,788 1,034 6 26
Colonial 7,789 1,500 1,183 135 1,048 576 7 28
Guardian 8,500 532 2,652 525 2,127 1,498 18 30
Lloyd's TSB 47,225 6,145 11,857 3,201 8,576 6,648 14 34
NatWest 13,590 3,044 2,181 647 1,634 1,207 9 36
Norwich Union 6,944 1,857 1,311 471 840 713 10 44
Legal & General 33,389 12,532 6,080 1,075 5,005 3,138 9 50
Equitable Life 10,894 4,177 1,691 898 793 512 5 51
Barclays 16,725 5,471 5,495 1,516 3,979 3,281 20 61
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)/A) x 100)
Table 2
PIA required completion date for :
90% of priority 100% of all
tranche 1 priority cases
Albany Life 30 Sep 1997 30 Sep 1998
AXA Equity and Law 31 Dec 1997 30 Jun 1998
Berkeley Independent 31 Dec 1997 31 Dec 1998
Burns Anderson 31 Dec 1997 31 Dec 1998
Canada Life 31 Dec 1997 30 Sep 1998
Commercial Union 31 Dec 1997 30 Jun 1998
Countrywide 31 Dec 1997 31 Dec 1998
DBS 31 Dec 1997 31 Dec 1998
Financial Options/Investment
Options 31 Dec 1997 30 Jun 1998
Friends Provident 31 Dec 1997 31 Dec 1998
Godwins 31 Dec 1997 30 Jun 1998
Hill Samuel 31 Dec 1997 31 Dec 1998
IFA Network 31 Dec 1997 30 Jun 1998
Midland 30 Nov 1997 31 May 1998
M&E 30 Sep 1997 30 June 1998
Standard Life 31 Dec 1997 31 Dec 1998
Wesleyan 31 Dec 1997 30 Sep 1998