Overwhelming public demand for clearer pension scheme charges

21 September 2015

The research, carried out online by YouGov on behalf of The People’s Pension, has found that over half (51%) of working age people with a pension don’t know if their current pension provider is charging them to manage their savings or not. Lack of awareness is highest amongst women, of whom almost two thirds (63%) were unaware of whether they were being charged to manage their retirement savings.

Just over one fifth (21%) said that they knew they were being charged but didn’t know how much. Just over one in ten (11%) knew that they were being charged and how much they were being charged.

The survey, carried out online by YouGov on behalf of The People’s Pension, also uncovered high levels of consumer demand for clearer disclosure of charges on pension savings.

Over nine in ten (94%) of working age people with a pension agreed that pension providers should have to tell people how much they were charging them to manage their savings.

Over two thirds (71%) strongly agreed or tended to agree that pension providers should charge savers in the same way, while nine in ten (90%) strongly agreed or tended to agree that pension providers should explain their charges using examples based on pounds and pence.

Almost nine in ten (87%) strongly agreed or tended to agree that pension providers should provide a cost comparison table so that savers could compare charges between providers.