The FCA has today published the rules firms must follow when designing and operating a commercial Pensions Dashboard.
Last month Emma Reynolds, the pensions minister, confirmed that initially people will only be able to access their information by going through the Pensions Dashboard run by the government’s Money and Pension Service (MaPS).
The intention remains to allow commercial dashboards, run by the private sector, but there is no timescale setting out when this will happen.
Pensions Dashboards will allow people to search for information on all their pension schemes, giving a digital overview of how much money they have and where that money is. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) recently estimated there to be over £31 billion sitting in lost pension pots
Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell, comments:
“Pensions Dashboards have the potential to be crucial in helping people plan and save for retirement. A dashboard will give people an overall view of all their pension savings built up so far – where they are, how much they are worth, and what level of retirement income they could expect.
“This statement is helpful but leaves the pensions industry with only a set of rules and no definitive timescale for when commercial dashboards will become a reality. Setting a clear date for commercial dashboards would allow providers to start planning in earnest. The development of dashboards has already been a bumpy ride with numerous stops and starts, and changes in who is responsible for getting it over the starting line.
“But more importantly, this is a huge let-down for customers. Dashboards have the potential to empower pension savers. But instead of a single government outlet, they need to be offered by a wide variety of organisations to make sure as many people as possible can reconnect with their lost pensions.
“Setting in stone a date for commercial dashboards will offer a clear path forward, allowing millions of people to view all their pensions in one place simply, easily and quickly.
“The pensions environment is continually evolving and the FCA should regularly review these rules so they are suitable for tomorrow’s world when targeted support is expected to play a much more important role.
“The FCA has adopted a cautious approach, but this could come at the cost of simplicity and practical help. Parts of the consumer journey are still laborious, and not designed from the customer’s perspective.”
What are Pensions Dashboards?
Pensions Dashboards will allow people to see details of all their pension plans in one place – including both state pension and private pensions. It will show which scheme or provider the pension is with, including contact details, as well as both the current value of the pension and what income it could provide at retirement age.
Initially, people will be able to access this information by using the dashboard run by the government’s Money and Pensions Service (MaPS). They will have to enter some personal information, including name, address and date of birth. Once the dashboards ecosystem has this information it will check with most of the pension schemes in the UK to see if they have information for this person, and then show the individual what pension information it has gathered.
Who is building Pensions Dashboards?
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has given the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) the job of designing and implementing the central digital architecture that will make Pensions Dashboards work. The PDP is also responsible for developing standards on how pension schemes connect to dashboards and how they show the information to people.
What is the connection timetable?
The majority of pension schemes have to ‘connect’ to Pensions Dashboards to be able to share details of their members’ pensions. Only very small schemes with less than 100 members are currently exempt. All pension schemes have to connect by 31 October 2026 at the latest. But the DWP has published a connection timetable as guidance for schemes giving earlier dates for connection. This is to stop a large number of pension schemes all trying to connect at the same time, which would be disruptive for the overall project.
The first guidance connection date is 30 April 2025. This is for large firms that offer personal pensions (including SIPPs) and very large master trusts. The timetable then sets out several later dates for gradually smaller and smaller pension schemes.
Pension schemes have to make decisions about when they will connect by looking at these guidance connection dates. If they choose a different, later connection date then the regulators – either The Pensions Regulator (TPR) or the FCA – may investigate and want to know the reason why.
When can people view Pensions Dashboards?
The DWP will set the launch date of Pensions Dashboards once it is sure enough pension schemes have connected and an individual has a very high chance of seeing all their pensions when they access the dashboard. If the ‘coverage’ of pension records isn’t high enough, the danger is people will lose confidence in Pensions Dashboards if they request details but aren’t shown all their pensions.
Pensions Dashboards also have to be efficient, easy to navigate, and simple to understand.
What is the FCA’s role?
Offering a commercial dashboard is a permitted activity, meaning firms need to be regulated by the FCA as a Pensions Dashboard Service (PDS) firm to do this. The FCA is currently designing the regulatory framework – the rules those PDS firms have to comply with. This includes the warnings and messages the customer will receive when they both go onto and exit the dashboard. It also includes the rules on what they can do with the ‘view data’ detailing their pension pots – whether they can send it back to themselves or others, including financial advisers and the PDS firm.
