The number of complaints from employees about company pensions schemes has soared over the past year, new figures have revealed.
The Pensions Advisory Service, OPAS, said that it received 8,006 complaints from workers last year, a rise of nearly 20 per cent.
OPAS said that the number of complaints relating to poor administration, such as errors, delays and misquotes, accounted for 30 per cent of cases.
The research will make worrying reading for small businesses, who may soon be forced to pay compulsory pensions to employees.
Trade unions have urged the government to make every UK employer pay out pension contributions to workers, but the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has attacked the plans, claiming they would cost businesses £29 billion a year to administer.
Although the government has said that it will not force employers to pay out, a vote at last year’s Labour party conference found that a majority of delegates were in favour of a compulsory system.
Malcolm McLean, chief executive of OPAS, said that the figures concerned him.
“We are becoming increasingly concerned about the growing number of complaints relating to the administration and day-to-day running of pension schemes.
“A culture seems to be developing where quality and good customer service are considered dispensable in the ever persistent quest to drive down costs.
“This is short-sighted and scheme members are entitled to expect more from their schemes. We would like to see this trend reversed with an emphatic raising of standards all round,” he said.
