People approaching retirement with foreboding

The life and pensions provider says that some survey respondents now regard retirement with apprehension, if it is thought of at all. Some of these people admit to ‘burying their head in the sand' because pensions are too confusing.

Friends Provident conducted a consumer survey to test its new pensions literature. It looked at potential barriers to effective communication between scheme sponsors and members and found that there is general disappointment and frustration about pensions from some of the respondents. This lack of understanding causes procrastination; not making a decision equates in some people's minds to not taking a risk.

The consumer survey has enabled the pensions provider to ensure that the new literature is user friendly and meeting the needs of scheme members.

New pre-retirement literature for members of its company pension schemes has been enhanced to:

Ensure employees know their retirement options and ‘next steps'.
Provide simple and unambiguous information.
Encourage customers to seek professional advice.
Give an appropriate balance between Friends Provident's annuity ‘promotion' and reference to Open Market Option (OMO).

David Millar, corporate pensions communications manager, said: "We want members to make informed decisions about retirement and that means making sure they understand their options. The new literature has been well received and consumer testing has enabled us to fine tune it. In preparing it we took into consideration the requirements set by the FSA and ABI for TCF and OMOs."