7 days
7 Days is a weekly round up of developments in pensions, normally published on Monday afternoons. We collate this information from key industry sources, such as the DWP, HMRC and TPR.
In this 7 Days
- Pensions dashboards developments: amending regulations made and FCA rules revised
- TPR publishes blog urging trustees to signpost members to a Midlife MOT
- FCA’s consumer duty comes into force
Pensions dashboards developments: amending regulations made and FCA rules revised
Regulations changing the pensions dashboards connection deadline for all in-scope schemes to 31 October 2026 were made on 19 July 2023 and will come into force on 9 August 2023. These follow the “reset” of the dashboards programme announced earlier this year. The FCA has made corresponding changes to the connection deadline for FCA-regulated pension providers.
On 26 July 2023, PASA updated its guidance on dashboards data accuracy to reflect the reset and to add more detail about types of data sources that schemes can use to validate member data.
TPR publishes blog urging trustees to signpost members to a Midlife MOT
On 26 July 2023, TPR published a blog on the Government’s recently launched online Midlife MOT intended to support people with work, health and money. The money section of the Midlife MOT offers digital tools to help educate users on pensions, including how to find lost pension pots and establish ideal retirement income. TPR sees the Midlife MOT as an “essential part of the pensions journey” and encourages trustees to signpost it to their members. TPR suggests that trustees:
- particularly target members aged 45 to 65
- “fully integrate” the Midlife MOT into the support already offered to members, and
- provide this link to the Midlife MOT “so that the DWP can capture where visitors are being referred from”.
FCA’s consumer duty comes into force
On 31 July 2023, the FCA’s consumer duty comes into force for new products and services and existing products and services that are open to sale or renewal. Closed products and services will be brought into scope from 31 July 2024. The duty is intended to set “higher standards of consumer protection” by requiring firms to take action to deliver good outcomes for consumers. The FCA is “closely monitoring” how firms are complying.
See our blog for details of how the duty may impact pension scheme trustees.
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