HELEN LIDDELL SEES MORE PENSIONS FIRMS

Senior representatives from 17 more firms involved in mis-selling 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 mis-selling 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 tranche 1	100% of all 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 Dec1997	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

Press Notices 1997 July to December index