Liddell: disappointed

Government Continues Naming and Shaming Pension Companies

Hogg Robinson has 602 complaints outstanding, but has only compensated one individual so far.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Helen Liddell, described the figures as "extremely disappointing". She told MPs that all of the firms in the published league table had "a great deal more work to do". Some companies, she said, seemed hardly to have begun.

Today's figures follow last month's public humiliation by the Government of the insurance giants Legal & General and the Sedgwick Group for what was described as "failing to understand the urgency of sorting out the mess caused by pensions mis-selling.

The figures show that even the top two companies have only have paid out to just over ten percent of their cases. Mrs Liddell has promised further action by the autumn unless things have improved markedly.

It is thought that as many as 1.5 million people received poor pensions advice during the late 1980s and early nineties. Many of them were persuaded to abandon occupational pension schemes and purchase private policies of questionable value.

A thorough review of the industry was commissioned three years ago but recent figures showed that only 12,000 of the more than half a million cases had received any compensation.

Mrs Liddell said: "It is now imperative that all firms -- not just these 24 -- which have sold personal pensions should make serious efforts to improve the performance in completing their caseloads." She said she would look at further figures and decide what action should be taken.