Over a quarter (26 per cent) of UK adults are not confident in choosing and managing their workplace pension, research from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has revealed.

In its report, Understanding of FSCS protection: identifying the gaps, the FSCS discovered that 10 per cent of survey respondents were “not at all confident” about choosing and managing their workplace pension.

The survey, which was conducted amongst 13,418 UK adults aged 18 and over, also found a slightly lower level of assurance for people choosing and managing personal pensions, with 32 per cent of respondents reporting a lack of confidence.

Elsewhere, the research discovered a lack of awareness around the FSCS, as a second survey, conducted amongst 4,896 UK adults who have heard of FSCS, found that 28 per cent of respondents though FSCS didn’t offer workplace pension protection, while 34 per cent saying weren’t sure.

The survey also found that 26 per cent of respondents didn’t think that personal pensions were covered by the FSCS and 35 per cent said they weren’t sure.

FSCS attributed the lack of awareness around pensions products, especially when compared to other financial products, to the “complexity of these products".

However, it also found that those who were more informed about financial products were more likely to be confident in them, as 66 per cent of those who were aware that FSCS protection extended to workplace pensions were confident about choosing and managing their own compared to 48 per cent of those who weren’t aware.

In light of the lack of awareness, FSCS emphasised that it is "committed to working with the industry to improve awareness and understanding of its protection".

“Engaging with regulatory partners, financial services providers and other stakeholders is key in helping people make informed decisions that keep their money safe," it stated.


This article first appeared on our sister title, Pensions Age.

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