-
Fewer than 4 in 10 (36%) of 50-75 year olds have been contacted by their pension provider on the retirement options available to them post 6th April 2015. This figure goes down to 26% in the low-wealth, small pension pot demographic and is still less than half (48%) in the high-wealth, large-pension category
-
Just under half (45%) of respondents are planning on approaching their pension provider for additional guidance
The poll also revealed that those who have received information from their providers see little variation in quality across different formats of information, such as face-to-face conversations and email communication. Customers also rate the quality of communication of pension providers as equal to that provided by other service providers such as banks, HMRC and utility companies.
Jonathan Howe, Head of Insurance at PwC, said:
“Many pension providers are concerned about a huge inflow of customer requests come April 6th and these figures suggest their fears are well-founded with nearly half of respondents naming their providers as a source of information they intend to tap in to.
"With less than 40% of people believing they’ve been contacted by their insurer regarding the new pension rules, insurers need to do much more than they have to date in providing information to their customers. The pressure facing pension providers is even more stark when you consider the very large numbers of low-wealth, small pension pot-holders who have made or received no contact so far and will be looking to their pension provider, along with financial advisors, as a main source of information.
"Either pension providers are not yet contacting their customers or the contact they have attempted has been dismissed as irrelevant.
This raises questions about the quality of customer interaction made by pension providers.
“After a year of highly-publicised reforms and huge changes for both the industry and the consumer, one might expect the quality of pension provider communication to be above and beyond that of other sectors and this is not the case. A key factor in determining the providers who will come out as winners post April 6th will be those who have invested considerably in consumer research and direct to consumer channels, which will enable them to design and deliver a superior experience for their customers.
“The lack of an obvious quality advantage in face-to-face or telephone communication could be seen as a reflection on the constraints placed on what providers are able to say to customers. Where guidance is perceived as generic there is little value added from personal communication – email/online is viewed as roughly equally as helpful by the consumer. Given digital communication is cheaper this may be an area where insurers can reduce costs without impacting on the level of customer service.”
|
