Pension transfer delays are costing consumers a total of over £1 billion, according to new research by online pension consolidation service PensionBee – a cost that could be avoided by transferring pensions electronically.

There are 33.4 million defined contribution pension pots in the UK, and the research assumes that they will each be transferred at some point at least once, whether to consolidate pensions, purchase an annuity or be put into a new account for drawdown purposes.

The transfer process is similar in all three of these scenarios, including requests for documentation and form requirements. Further, PensionBee calculates that 30 per cent of the 33.4 million transfers are manual, which means that approximately 10 million people making transfers will incur these costs.

Pension transfer delays are costing consumers a total of over £1 billion, according to new research by online pension consolidation service PensionBee – a cost that could be avoided by transferring pensions electronically.

There are 33.4 million defined contribution pension pots in the UK, and the research assumes that they will each be transferred at some point at least once, whether to consolidate pensions, purchase an annuity or be put into a new account for drawdown purposes.

The transfer process is similar in all three of these scenarios, including requests for documentation and form requirements. Further, PensionBee calculates that 30 per cent of the 33.4 million transfers are manual, which means that approximately 10 million people making transfers will incur these costs.

Read full news here: Money Observer