Free pensions advice

 Pension wise will offer free and impartial guidance to people on the new pension freedoms which come into effect in April say Harris & Co accountants Northampton #accountantsNorthampton

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrea Leadsom has unveiled the name and logo of the new pensions guidance service.

Pension wise will be a first port of call for consumers, offering free and impartial information and guidance to people with a defined contribution pension approaching retirement.

From April 2015, over 300,000 individuals a year with defined contribution pension savings will be able to access them as they wish from when they turn 55.

The creation of Pension wise follows the announcement by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in the summer that the government will provide access to free and impartial guidance on how to make the most of the new pension freedoms, which come into effect in April 2015.

The name of the guidance service is being published alongside an update on the implementation of the service.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrea Leadsom said:

People who have worked hard and saved all their lives will be free to choose what they do with their money from next April.

We want people to be empowered to make informed and confident choices and I’m delighted to announce Pension wise: Your money. Your choice as the brand name for the impartial guidance service we are building.

Pension wise will be a first port of call for people with a defined contribution pension who are approaching retirement. It is a distinctive brand, making it easy for consumers to know where to go for help and guidance.

Dr Ros Altmann, the government’s business champion for older workers said:

I welcome the further details on the guidance service published by the government today.

It is absolutely right that we invest in helping people make the best decisions with their retirement savings.

Until now, there has been no help with the complex decisions people face when they reach pension age and at last, there is an independent source of help to point people in the right direction.

The service needs to be a strong brand – Pension wise seems a sound choice. It will be important to promote this brand so that people recognise it and have confidence in the quality and value of guidance.

The new name and logo will be used by all those involved in providing the online, face to face and telephone guidance, making it trusted and accessible.

The government’s delivery partners are Citizens Advice (England and Wales), Citizens Advice Scotland and Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and The Pensions Advisory Service.

To mark the unveiling of the Pension wise brand, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Andrea Leadsom, is visiting The Pensions Advisory Service in London where she will meet with some new team members from TPAS who will be offering telephone guidance as part of the Pension wise service.

In order to protect consumers from imitators of the service and ensure the guidance brand is trusted, the government will make the imitation of Pension wise illegal through the Pension Schemes Bill. Anyone seeking to pass themselves off as the service could face prosecution.

In addition, The Financial Conduct Authority, which was set up by the government, is working hard to tackle pension fraud. It has strong powers to prosecute those behind illegal scams and earlier this year launched scam awareness campaign Scamsmart.