The Pensions Scams Industry Group (PSIG) has launched an industry-wide consultation to determine the future of the organisation.
It is seeking views from trustees, advisers, administrators, and those working across the pensions industry, as to the value of PSIG, particularly in relation to protecting scheme members from fraud and scams.
PSIG was established a decade ago, but is run entirely by volunteers. It says while it wants to continue to protect pension savers, it wants to review how best to deliver this.
The consultation, Evolution or Extinction will run until the end of July this year.
PSIG chair Margaret Snowden: “When PSIG launched, our intention was crystal clear – to get to such a point that we were no longer needed – that scamming had been addressed and was no longer a serious threat, the industry followed good practice on protection, and lives were no longer being ruined.”
She pointed out that the group launched its first code of good practice in 2015, that it has continued to update. Snowden says this is seen as the “go to” standard by the industry as well as authorities. However pension scams remain a serious issue for the industry.
She points out that the Pension Scams Industry Forum now has a membership approaching 100 organisations, and meets regularly to share information on threats relating to scams The group has successfully set out the need for regulations to give trustees and providers greater power to stop scam transfers. And she points out it is currently working with the DWP to review these regulations to improve their effectiveness.
She adds: “Just like any independent organisation it is critical for good governance to assess if what we are doing is beneficial, fit for purpose and valued. It is also important to really look at what has been done so far, and what could be done and what that would take to succeed.
“The consultation is comprised of two parts, the first covering the potential value offered by PSIG and the second covering potential funding options.”
Snowden points out that PSIG has been a voluntary, multi-disciplinary, industry group. She says: “These volunteers have worked tirelessly in their own time, to contribute their expertise and produce the guides and codes of practice that have supported the pensions industry and government itself.
“Without a basic infrastructure, the burden on our volunteers is considerable and, quite frankly, PSIG is ultimately unsustainable in its current form. To continue to address the evolution of scamming on behalf of the industry, we need resources, and we urge industry to complete the survey and feedback to us.”
She urged the pension industry not to take bodies like PSIG for granted. “We are willing to keep going, we want to keep protecting members from losing their hard-earned pensions by helping the industry to combat the scammers, but we need more help. It’s really up to the industry now to decide.”
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