Just Retirement welcomes outcome of Treasury and DWP review

Just Retirement, UK provider of enhanced annuities, today welcomed the package of measures proposed to improve the operation of the Open Market Option (OMO).

Following publication of the Pre-Budget Report, the provider believes that the focus on improved guidance, better-focused information and communication will help to raise awareness of the right to shop around for a better deal among the thousands of people each year who receive a lower income than they could obtain.

Initiatives in the Pre-Budget Report include:-

A web-based structured choice tool and better-focused information
A review of pension saving providers’ maturity literature against TCF principles
Clarification that tax legislation allows providers to offer the open market option without providing an annuity themselves
A review of delays in transferring OMO funds
An annual report on operation of the OMO

Just Retirement believes these initiatives will stimulate improvements among providers and help raise awareness among the public. Just Retirement’s Campaign for Better Annuities, aimed at raising awareness of issues at retirement has received a very enthusiastic response from advisers, with almost 3,000 signed-up after less than 3 months, and will be helping them address some of the issues raised by the Pre-Budget Report. Last month CEO, Mike Fuller announced that the company will be launching an annuity desk to guide customers and advisers through the options available to them. As part of its support for the review, Just Retirement has been researching customers’ views of the information they receive at retirement and has discovered a startling degree of confusion.

Steve Kyle, Risk Director of Just Retirement, explained “We believe the balance of this report is right and will encourage people to shop around. While it is tempting to suggest that more information is the solution, we were concerned that this would simply exacerbate the existing problem whereby people are confused by the amount and the presentation of information about their options at retirement. We fully support the focus on better information, rather than more information, to encourage people to take action to increase their income for life. Our face-to-face research has shown that a significant majority of people are not aware of their right to shop around for a better income, despite having received their retirement information from their pension provider.

There is still some way to go in this process but the outcome of the review is very positive and we look forward to contributing to progress.”