Poor administration means pensioners waiting for income

Poor administration by Insurance companies' means that newly retired individuals are waiting months for their personal pension income to start. Industry insiders claim the worst offenders are insurance companies who have stopped accepting new business.

A report from the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) found that poor administration complaints have increased by 43% over the past year.

TPAS said: "Given our experience of dealing with some insurance companies, this is not surprising. The worst offenders are insurers closed to new business. Their lack of regard for the needs of their customers is often unacceptable. If the industry does not voluntarily tackle this problem, we would look to the regulatory authorities to intervene on behalf of consumers, who are often unable to extricate themselves from their policy except at great financial cost."