Norwich Union restructures pension plans

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Norwich Union is introducing a new retirement savings plan, which it claims will better suit customers and advisers ahead of April's pension simplification.

The Retirement Solution range enables the person to tailor his or her own plan depending on personal circumstance, allowing the customer flexibility.

Depending on what stage of saving they are at, the plans are more general or more refined and specific, with the customer allowed to move between the company's pension products whilst still being under the umbrella of a single plan.

"The single scheme solution will provide customers and financial advisers with an opportunity to comprehensively plan for retirement throughout a customer's various life stages," said Mike Kirsch, commercial director at Norwich Union.

"The industry has been challenged to develop innovative solutions to help address the savings gap. We have risen to this challenge and now we are working with the Government to ensure that as many customers as possible are able to access the benefits of this scheme."

The restructuring move by Norwich Union comes following recent research that revealed the low numbers who begin saving at a reasonable age for their retirement.

A survey by Prudential had revealed that just 23 per cent of people interviewed had begun saving for their pension before the age of thirty.
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