Long waits for pension transfers, taken from small samples of pension transfers, are not indicative of the overall market, says Origo.
Origo said with over a million transfers being processed through its Origo Transfer Service in a year – as the vast majority of the market, over 150 brands, use the Service for their defined contribution pension transfers – it can provide a clear barometer of overall transfer times.
Taking 12 months of data to the end of June 2023 and looking at the top 10 providers by transfer volume, half of the transfers undertaken by Origo were transferred out by the provider in 3 to 8 calendar days.
The average across the 10 providers, who collectively accounted for 70% of transfers through the Origo Transfer Service, is 11 calendar days.
The latest data for the Origo Transfer Index – a quarterly report on the data of 28 providers accounting for around 80% of transfers through the Origo Transfer Service – shows that for the 12 months to the end of June 2023, the average time for a pension transfer was 13.6 calendar days – effectively 10 working days.
Commenting, Anthony Rafferty, CEO, Origo, said: “It is disappointing when the narrative on transfer times is presented as negative for the market as a whole. The data shows that it is more often the performance of the outliers in the market that raise overall transfer times and can cause frustrations in the market. The majority of providers are doing sterling transfer work day-in day-out for consumers.
“The frustrations exist with some providers in the occupational pension market, who are still taking up to several months to transfer customers’ money. This is largely because the process is undertaken manually, paper-based, and consequently, slowly. Given the chance, we can help them, substantially.
“Not every transfer is straightforward and there is no doubt also that the new regulations designed to help protect consumers against pensions scams have contributed to the recent uptick in transfer times.
“We believe the overall average speed of transfer can be improved further. Full integration of the process with organisations’ back-office systems, for example, can significantly improve transfer times.
“Overall, however, the market is delivering what we know consumers want – their transfer done quickly and safely.”
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