Letter: Compensation for mis-sold pensions

Sir: The headline "Review may block compensation" and the first paragraph in Nic Cicutti's article (23 June) give a misleading impression of the review of pension mis-selling being conducted by the Personal Investment Authority and the life assurance industry.

With few exceptions, both sides are determined to deliver reassurance and compensation, where due, to those who were mis-sold. The reasons for this mis-selling have been well aired - misleading government propaganda, lack of communication from large pension schemes, ineffectual regulation at the time, and incompetent and commission-led salesmen. However, it should not be forgotten that, alone among these fiduciary felons, it is industry that will be paying the cost of everybody's mistakes.

The process described in your article is intended to ensure rapid delivery of proper compensation to those deserving such. A pension transfer can often be the right choice for investors seeking to control their own funds. If a transfer was carried out in a satisfactory manner, with the investor made fully aware of the risk at the time, no compensation should be paid. To do so would damage the savings of millions of investors with perfectly satisfactory pension and life assurance policies from whose funds such compensation would come.

Yours faithfully,

Gareth G. Marr

Managing Director

Moores, Marr, Bradley

Milton Keynes,

Buckinghamshire

23 June