The government are being called to ensure adequate protection is in place for pension savers under a new ‘dormant asset’ reclaim scheme.
Announced by government this month, the plans will see assets in banks and building society accounts released if they haven’t been touched for 15 years. They will then be distributed to good causes. The scope of these reclaimable assets could possibly include pension and insurance assets, a factor which has sparked calls from former pensions ministers Steve Webb and Ros Altmann to ensure savers are protected.
Though the government claims that before the release of funds, “appropriate” efforts would be made to reconnect pensioners with their money which they could later reclaim, the former ministers stress the need for greater safeguards to be implemented.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Atmann expressed her concern over the government using dormant pension assets “since many people lose track of pensions for decades but do come back to find them”.
She went on to state: “The main issue is to ensure that, before any assets are used, proper checks and efforts have been made to contact the owner and allow them to come forward.”
Webb suggested that the scheme could come into effect after the launch of the pensions dashboard; this, he states, could provide savers with a better chance of locating lost funds before they are reclaimed.
