PENSION FIRMS MUST HONOUR OFFERS OF REDRESS

Further progress has been made in clearing up pensions mis- selling according to figures published today by Economic Secretary Helen Liddell. The Minister also published a graph showing a dramatic improvement in the pension review's rate of progress since this time last year.

In her statement in the House of Commons on 18 November, Mrs Liddell said that she would remove from this list the name of any firm which achieved its target for resolving priority cases. Several firms now appear to be close to meeting their targets and, if PIA inspections confirm these initial reports, their names will be removed from the list.

The monthly figures of the 41 firms show:

only 1 firm has resolved less than 25% of its cases;
5 firms have resolved less than half their cases;
17 firms have resolved over 75% of cases.

Mrs Liddell warned all firms that they must not rest on their laurels once redress had been agreed. Firms must ensure that no loose ends are left untied.

The Minister said:

"The regulators will continue to monitor firms, even after their targets have been met, to ensure that they follow through on offers of redress in a timely manner and establish the arrangements necessary to honour guarantees. I am asking the regulators to keep me informed."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.The Economic Secretary published the figures in response to a Parliamentary Question from Stephen Timms MP [East Ham].

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

3. Recent fines on pension firms include:

Pounds
Lincoln Independent Ltd	July 1997	75,000
The M & E Network	August 1997	100,000
DBS Financial Management	September 1997	425,000
Friends Provident	September 1997	450,000
Moran Webb Insurance Consultants	October 1997	15,000
Albany Life	November 1997	375,000
Ward Consultancy	December 1997	20,000
Jacobs Insurance Brokers Ltd	December 1997	10,000
Cox Hepburn Financial Services Ltd	January 1998	15,000
London & Manchester	January 1998	525,000
Countrywide Independent Advisors	February 1998	250,000
Britannic Assurance	March 1998	525,000

PROGRESS BY PENSIONS FIRMS IN RESOLVING CASES OF PERSONAL PENSIONS MIS-SELLING IN THE PERIOD TO THE END OF APRIL 1998

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Under 25% of cases resolved
DBS	3,945	122	364	196	168	115	3	11
Burns Anderson	1,132	279	200	114	86	73	6	41
Financial Options	362	116	39	20	19	17	5	42
Gan	11,485	1,147	4,999	608	4,391	3,423	30	45
Countrywide	4,821	2,090	266	166	100	76	2	48
50-75% of cases resolved
Lincoln National	13,388	1,579	6,435	1,074	5,361	4,105	31	50
Windsor Life	9,503	3,129	2,291	284	2,007	1,634	17	53
Abbey Life	17,426	4,381	6,424	959	5,465	4,491	26	56
IFA Network	316	74	109	77	32	30	9	57
Standard Life	7,006	715	3,804	939	2,865	2,465	35	59
London and Manchester	8,317	1,227	4,291	519	3,772	3,407	41	62
Friends Provident	6,924	1,021	3,642	547	3,095	2,731	39	62
Colonial	8,337	2,423	3,415	391	3,024	2,481	30	64
Hill Samuel	6,069	798	3,501	642	2,859	2,452	40	64
Canada Life	5,555	327	3,822	584	3,238	2,660	48	64
CIS	43,356	3,929	29,336	13,07	16,257	11,013	25	65
Royal & Sun Alliance	15,904	2,744	8,718	1,04	37,675	6,532	41	65
NatWest	14,971	4,369	6,831	1,076	5,755	4,575	31	67
Sun Life of Canada	27,158	8,935	11,13	02,10	49,026	7,499	28	68
Berkeley Independent	163	96	20	16	4	4	2	71
Albany Life	2,931	607	1,879	177	1,702	1,337	46	72
Allied Dunbar	19,037	3,914	11,440	3,318	8,122	6,697	35	73
Sedgwick	15,663	7,917	3,805	1,460	2,345	2,128	14	73
Equitable Life	7,500	1,764	4,068	1,545	2,523	2,243	30	74
over 75% of cases resolved
Britannic	19,424	5,119	11,92	82,87	59,053	6,622	34	75
Guardian	9,076	1,192	6,282	949	5,333	4,779	53	76
M&E Network	311	173	73	25	48	42	14	77
Legal & General	36,679	14,667	17,538	1,662	15,876	12,480	34	79
Lloyd's TSB	49,678	11,774	30,439	6,259	24,180	22,125	45	81
Commercial Union	7,814	1,277	5,433	787	4,646	4,306	55	82
Wesleyan	4,175	265	3,315	962	2,353	2,192	53	82
United Assurance	13,093	1,237	10,846	1,983	8,863	7,707	59	83
Royal London	12,564	1,117	10,479	1,457	9,022	7,975	63	84
Hogg Robinson	2,145	804	1,142	392	750	626	29	85
Pearl	46,551	3,871	39,043	5,647	33,396	30,262	65	85
Prudential	72,1181	9,429	52,637	3,866	48,771	39,755	55	87
Barclays	17,007	6,126	9,805	2,219	7,586	6,604	39	88
AXA Equity and Law	3,969	774	2,941	609	2,332	2,174	55	90
Norwich Union	7,423	2,248	4,717	726	3,991	3,719	50	90
Godwins	1,478	113	1,351	456	895	778	53	91
Midland	4,844	534	4,154	489	3,665	3,512	73	94

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).

Press Notices 1998 January to June Index