This snapshot, taken on 10/09/2008, shows web content selected for preservation by The National Archives. External links, forms and search boxes may not work in archived websites.

160/97                                         

11 December 1997

HELEN LIDDELL WARNS THAT ALL FIRMS MUST PULL THEIR WEIGHT IN THE REVIEW OF PERSONAL PENSIONS MIS-SELLING

All pensions firms, including the thousands of firms that are not being individually monitored by the Treasury, must get their act together and speed up their processing of cases, Helen Liddell, Economic Secretary, said today.

Mrs Liddell spoke after she published the latest monthly progress statistics in response to a Parliamentary question.  This revealed the position at the end of November for each of  41 pensions companies which together account for about four out of every five cases for review.   The figures show continuing variation in firms' performance, with many  firms making headway, but too many still lagging behind. 

Publishing the figures Mrs Liddell said :

"There is no cut-off point that makes a firm too small to be expected to honour  the personal pensions review.  Each and every firm - from the large household names to the smallest IFA - must get on with the urgent task of processing cases and making redress where it is due.  No-one is off the hook.

"Although much of the focus in the press has been on larger firms, I have not forgotten about the thousands of smaller firms, and neither have the regulators."

Commenting on the figures, Mrs Liddell said :

"Too many people are still facing long delays in getting the redress that is due to them.  A few firms are now making very promising progress, but there is still  a long way to go for most of the firms listed, and sadly some have still not progressed beyond the initial stages.

"Regulatory discipline is fast becoming a real prospect for some companies.   It is now up to each firm to make every effort to make rapid progress so that the powers I outlined in the House of Commons last month do not need to be used."

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.   The Treasury publishes monthly information about how fast the top 41 pension companies are dealing with their cases. The figures for the end of November are attached.

2.   On 18 November in a Statement to the House of Commons, Mrs Liddell outlined a package of sanctions aimed at maintaining the pressure on pension firms to meet their targets for resolving mis-selling cases. Following this, on 1   December, the Personal Investment Authority (PIA)announced that from May 1998, directors and senior managers of its larger member firms would be registered individually, and thus subject to direct disciplinary action. All key individuals will be registered from October 1998. 

3.   Recent fines include :

 Albany Life                                   December 1997   375,000 Pounds
 DBS Financial Management Ltd    September 1997  425,000 Pounds
 Friends Provident                          September 1997  450,000 Pounds  
 M&E Network                               September 1997  100,000 Pounds


back to top

 

 A

B

C

D

E

 F

 G

 H

 Under 25% of cases resolved

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 DBS   

  598 19  68  59 9  6  1  1

Burns Anderson     

 922  46 100  79 21 17  2 1

Gan

 10,424 400 1,831 274 1,557 1,030 10 1

Lincoln National

 12,938 1,026 2,284   735 1,549 1,118   9 2

Countrywide

 2,692 455 214 208 6 8 0 2

25-50% of cases resolved

Windsor Life

 8,325 1,508  895  95 800 572 7 2

Financial Options   

 295 72 11 7 4 3 1 2

Canada Life

 5,454 196 1,834 402 1,432 1,126 21 3

Friends Provident

 6,675 825 1,927 325 1,602 1,222 18 3

London and Manchester

 7,935  662 2,809 389 2,420 1,907 24 3

Royal & Sun Alliance

 15,342 1,704 5,406 736 4,670 3,643 24 4

Brittanic

 18,290 3,414 4,522 1,906 2,616 1,960 11 4

CIS

 43,285 2,724 16,260 11,294 4,966 3,392 8 4

United Assurance

 12,326  742 4,894 1,565 3,329 2,843 23 4

Standard Life

 6,672 449 2,517 952 1,565 1,405 21 4

Abbey Life

 16,883 3,836 3,872 839 3,033 2,436 14 4

Hill Samuel

 5,931 743 2,123  434 1,689 1,345 23 4

Sun Life of Canada

 25,937 6,374 6,580   1,188 5,392 3,531 14 3

Colonial

 8,048 1,879 2,193  297 1,929 1,385 17 4

Allied Dunbar

 18,186 2,508 6,446 2,475 3,971 3,088 17 4

Godwins

 1,358 47 648 287 361 291 21 4

Albany Life

 2,844 503 1,330 95 1,235 721 25 4

NatWest

 14,069 3,462 4,125 834 3,291 2,408 17 4

Lloyd's TSB

 48,200 8,302 17,190 5,195 11,995 10,480 22 5

50-75% of cases resolved

IFA Network   

 209 31 81 64 17 11 5 5

Guardian

 8,732 860 4,321 733 3,588 2,847 33 5

Commercial Union

 7,462 1,012 3,514  693 2,821 2,276 31 5

Pearl

 42,505 2,370 26,272 4,833 21,439 15,799 37 5

Sedgwick

 11,511 4,253 2,405 951 1,454 1,059 9 5

Prudential

 71,358 16,559 42,542 3,294 39,248 19,119 27 5

Royal London

 11,432 959 6,684 1,248 5,436 4,120 36 5

Midland

 4,787  339 2,856 448 2,408 1,923 40 5

Norwich Union

 7,166 2,061 2,452  562 1,890 1,589 22 5

Wesleyan

 4,132  222 2,488  732 1,756 1,478 36 5

Legal & General

 35,354 13,504 11,921 1,367 10,554 7,803 22 6

Berkeley Independent

 86 47 8 8 1 1 1 6

Hogg Robinson

 1,922  734  730 248  482  329 17 6

M&E Network   

 273 151 43 14 29 25 9 7

Equitable Life  

 11,100   5,575  2,745  1,242  1,503 1,207  11 7

Over 75% of cases resolved

Barclays

 16,821 5,973 7,735 1,893 5,842 4,785 28 7

AXA Equity and Law

 3,855 684 2,493 652 1,841 1,576 41 7


 

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

back to top

Press Notices 1997 July to December Index