Long delayed pension dashboards should be ready in 2026
Long awaited pension dashboards POSTPONED again! Savers could finally get information about their pension funds at a glance… but not until 2026
- The plan is to give people up-to-date, accurate information about all pensions together
- As a result, savers can be better equipped to make decisions about their retirement
- Dashboards were first announced by the government in the 2016 budget
Long-promised retirement dashboards are now unlikely to see the light of day until the second half of 2026, the government says.
Online tools that allow people to see all their pension pots at a glance have been in development for years – the government announced the project in the 2016 budget, with the dashboard launch date set for 2019.
Pensions Minister Laura Trott said today that a mandatory ‘join deadline’ of October 31, 2026 would be included pending legislation, although some versions of a dashboard could be available sooner.
The dashboard plan should provide people with up-to-date and correct information about all their pensions at a glance
“The government remains more committed than ever to delivering pension dashboards and we are ambitious about their implementation,” she said.
“I am confident that with this reassessed approach, we can make significant progress in safely delivering dashboards so consumers can take advantage of their retirement planning benefits.”
Trott had already announced a postponement of the dashboard since she became pensions minister.
She said in March that extra time was needed to bring pension providers and schemes into line with each other.
The dashboard plan should provide people with up-to-date, accurate information about all their pension funds at once, so that they are better informed and equipped to make decisions about financing their retirement.
But there’s been a lot of back and forth over the years about making the scheme mandatory — to force pension funds unwilling to spend time and money on the project to sign up — and how to keep people’s financial information safe. set.
There has been a long-standing concern that scammers could hack or misuse the information on dashboards to steal people’s retirement pots.
Kate Smith, Aegon’s head of pensions, welcomed today’s announcement and said: “This gives more time to ensure the pension dashboard ecosystem is working and fully tested, giving schemes and participants confidence.
‘And gives more certainty that pension dashboards will be introduced.
‘Previously, connection dates for pension providers and schemes were laid down by law according to size and type of scheme. These will be removed.
“We look forward to seeing more details on how the phasing dates set out in the guidance will work and be managed by the pension dashboard program to ensure that the scheme connection points are spread evenly to avoid the risk of them reaching the last minute of 31 be abandoned. October 2026, which could easily lead to a capacity crunch and overload the retirement dashboard ecosystem.”
Claire Trott, divisional director for retirement at St. James’s Place, said: ‘While it is disappointing that the dashboard is once again delayed, what is more important is that it is accurate, not misleading and of real benefit to consumers.
“It would be worse to launch something that doesn’t deliver any benefit, or only part of what is intended. This could mean it doesn’t get engagement from those who need this tool the most.”
Becky O’Connor, director of public affairs at PensionBee, said: “This project has been beset with difficulties and delays from the start.
“Meanwhile, people are losing track of their valuable retirement pots and struggling to manage their retirement plans.
‘The Pension Dashboards project is starting to feel like the train you’re waiting for and it arrives keeps being postponed before it’s finally cancelled. It is vital for the UK’s millions of pension savers that this does not happen.’