Adviser Points of View (16/01/2019) – Experts have welcomed a new ban that makes cold calls related to pensions illegal.
This means that companies that make unwanted, and unsolicited phone calls to people about their pensions may face enforcement action, including fines of up to £500,000.
The ban, which came into effect on January 9, aims to protect consumers against theft from fraudsters posing as pension advisers.
John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury, said: “Pension scammers are the lowest of the low. They rob savers of their hard-earned retirement and devastate lives. We know that cold-calling is the pension scammers’ main tactic, which is why we’ve made them illegal.”
Alan Chan, director and chartered financial planner at London-based IFS Wealth & Pensions, argued that more must be done to stop cold calls in other sectors of the financial industry.
He said: “I very much welcome the cold calling ban for pensions as it is definitely a step in the right direction. However, this is only a very small step and we must not stop there. We still have a long way to go before we really gain any traction in tackling fraudsters. For instance, the cold calling ban is specifically for pensions only. It does not cover cold calling for investments which is just bizarre.
“Unregulated introducers are the other issue with pension scams and scams in general. We’ve been approached many times in the past and have refused to enter into any agreements with them but, from the sounds of it, there are lot of people falling for their sales scripts.”
Full article link: https://www.adviserpointsofview.com/2019/01/experts-react-to-pension-cold-calling-ban/
