Surge in pension information requests

Financial firms dealt with more than 200,000 queries from callers wanting to know more about their new retirement freedoms in the first four days after they began.

The Association of British Insurers says its members received 229,932 phone calls between the Tuesday and Friday after the launch on Bank Holiday Monday, and the vast majority of them were keen to understand the choices they could make with their pension money.

The volume of calls was more than triple the figure which members would normally expect for that week, and on average they fielded 57,483 phone queries per day.

On top of that, they received 10,000 letters and emails, which is twice as many as normal.

Anyone who is over the age of 55 and has a defined contribution pension no longer has to buy an annuity to provide them with the money they need to live on during their retirement. They can now invest the money how they like.

Copyright Press Association 2015