Pensions Bulletin 2025/40
This content is AI generated, click here to find out more about Transpose™.
For terms of use click here.
This edition: MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard enters next phase of testing, Virgin Media – guidance to be provided to support scheme actuaries undertaking remediation work and Proposals to change tax treatment for scam victims “blown out of the water.”
MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard enters next phase of testing
The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has announced that the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard is now moving onto “low volume testing” - the second stage of its three-step testing framework (see Pensions Bulletin 2025/32). This follows the successful completion of the first rounds of industry expert testing.
This phase of testing will include around 300 non-pensions specialist users using a real dashboard with real pensions data, with around 50 in moderated testing, where they will be observed directly by a researcher who will ask for and collect feedback while also guiding users towards parts of the service to explore in more depth. The rest of the users will be in unmoderated testing, which will inform the scope of “higher volume testing” (the third stage in the framework), where volumes will increase to thousands of users.
The intention is to run several rounds of testing over the next few months to ensure that the service is working broadly as expected and identify any critical issues that need to be resolved.
Comment
It is good to see how rigorously the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard is being tested to try and ensure it is wrinkle-free prior to its public launch. However it does appear that the pace of progress is now at the later end of the timeline targeted by the PDP in July (see Pensions Bulletin 2025/28) and we wonder whether this might herald a further delay to the ultimate launch date of the Dashboard.
Virgin Media – guidance to be provided to support scheme actuaries undertaking remediation work
Following on from the new clauses now accepted into the Pension Schemes Bill to address the issues that have arisen as a result of the Virgin Media judgment (see Pensions Bulletin 2025/35), the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has announced that it will develop technical guidance to support pension scheme actuaries who are asked to confirm that historical benefit changes made by schemes met the necessary standards.
The FRC has pledged to work closely with industry professionals, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and the Association of Consulting Actuaries in developing this guidance and intends to make it available when the legislation comes into force.
Comment
Actuaries are used to modelling the future and in recent years the FRC has sought to enhance the quality of such work through its technical actuarial standards. By contrast, the remediation opportunity that the Government is legislating for requires the scheme actuary to look at the rule amendment in question and gather sufficient evidence from the past to enable them to reach the “reasonable to conclude” opinion. We therefore expect that the guidance delivered will be very different to the technical guidance that the FRC usually produces. It would also be useful if the guidance could be made available in advance of “when the expected legislation comes into force” given that this is currently expected to be two months after the Pension Schemes Bill is enacted.
Proposals to change tax treatment for scam victims “blown out of the water”
Last October the Pensions Scams Industry Group (PSIG) launched a petition calling for a change in the “punitive” tax charges faced by victims of pension and investment fraud (see Pensions Bulletin 2024/43).
The Chair of the PSIG, Margaret Snowden, has recently written a passionate article expressing her dismay that a proposed tax settlement scheme that was “to be fair to both victims and HMRC” has been “blown out of the water”. Ms Snowden does not elaborate on this last point but her disappointment is clear to read (and understandable).
Comment
There does not appear to be anything in the public domain from HMRC about this topic so it is unclear what has prompted Ms Snowden’s article. However, on the basis of this, it seems that HMRC will not be changing their policy in this area. This is unfortunate since, as we said last year, giving HMRC some discretion in this area, where genuine hardship has been suffered by victims of fraud, would be the humane thing to do.
Sign up to receive our weekly bulletin
Subscribe to LCP emailsThis Pensions Bulletin does not constitute advice, nor should it be taken as an authoritative statement of the law. For further help, please contact David Everett at our London office or the partner who normally advises you.
If you would like to receive the weekly pensions bulletin automatically by email please fill in this form.
