“Options” speeds up annuity transfers

by Gill Montia

Story link: “Options” speeds up annuity transfers

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has reported that the pensions industry’s “Options” initiative has cut the time taken for annuity transfers between providers to an average of just eight calendar days.

The initiative, which has been operational for around three months, has been developed by Origo, the e-commerce standards and services body.

It aims to speed up the exchange of information and funds in the annuity transfer process, including for transfers carried out under the Open Market Option.

The scheme, which is backed by 17 providers and the ABI, has shown an improvement of over three weeks on its previous performance and further progress is expected over time, as refinements are made and more providers start to use the system.

Maggie Craig, the ABI’s director of life and savings, says: “This is very good news for annuity customers, and a real success for the pensions industry. Pension and annuity providers, and the ABI, were determined to improve performance on transfer payment times. The ‘Options’ initiative has got off to a great start in achieving this goal.”

She adds that the system should be extended to other forms of pensions transfer in the near future.