11 December 2025
These FCA proposals are a welcome step toward making pensions clearer and safer for everyday savers but they do come with trade offs. The plan to modernise online planning tools should help people see, in plain language, how paying in more, retiring a little later, or choosing a different way to take income could change life after work. That is positive, but it only works if providers keep assumptions realistic, show figures in today’s money, and make it clear that projections are estimates rather than promises.
“The second change proposed could cause non advised transfer times to slow significantly. Before you move or combine pensions, you would receive a simple side‑by‑side comparison between the new and old scheme of the things that count. That means fees and charges, the investment approach, the options you will have at retirement, and any valuable benefits you might lose by switching. This extra pause can prevent costly mistakes, especially as dashboards help more people find old pots.
“Consumers need to understand the trade‑off. The new process will add time to transfers, significantly so in some cases. Your current provider may take up to 10 working days to send information to the firm you are thinking of moving to. That firm then has three working days to replay the comparison to you, and only after that can you instruct a transfer. In practice, legacy systems and extra checks can stretch timelines further. If implemented someone planning to consolidate or access money soon, should allow several additional weeks and do not assume a quick, one‑click transfer.
“There is a pragmatic carve‑out for very small, inactive pots at £1,000 or less. That keeps administration lighter, but firms should still flag if several small pots together could be worth keeping. There is also the ability for customer to opt out of the process entirely. We note that the FCA believe opt-outs will be the minority exception and will conduct consumer testing to test this.
“If implemented well, these changes mean clearer tools and fewer nasty surprises. But it also means quite a significant overhaul in processes which is likely to have broad knock-on impacts on the swiftness of transfers in the future as providers will have to prioritise the provision of information perhaps in advance of completing actual transfers. In the meantime, anyone considering consolidation should check charges, look for guarantees and retirement options, and consider impartial guidance from MoneyHelper, or regulated advice for more complex decisions."
