Why making pension transfers safer and simpler matters to employers
Protecting pension savers is non-negotiable. Pension scams can have devastating consequences and any reforms that help to protect people’s later-life savings are critical.
The challenge isn't choosing between protecting savers and making pension transfers straightforward. A modern pension system should be able to do both.
If the transfer process becomes unnecessarily complex, it risks creating new problems for employers and employees alike.
One of the biggest challenges facing workplace pensions today is pot proliferation. As people move jobs, they often accumulate multiple pension pots with different providers. Over time, this can make it much harder for them to understand how much they've saved, plan for retirement and stay engaged with their pension.
Engagement leads to informed decisions
In Cushon's Workplace Pensions Report 2026, 74% of employees said they want their pension to follow them when they change jobs, and 35% admitted they'd be more engaged with their pension if all their pots were in one place.
For employers, this matters. Pension engagement is an important part of employees' overall financial wellbeing. When people can clearly see and understand their retirement savings, they're more likely to value their workplace pension and make informed decisions about their future.
The difficulty is that transferring pensions is already far from straightforward.
Only 36% of employees surveyed for the Workplace Pensions Report 2026 said they know how to consolidate their pensions. Meanwhile, 78% of employers surveyed thought their employees do know how to consolidate their pensions, suggesting that many overestimate employees’ financial knowledge and confidence.
Protection and simplicity should work together
The aim of the Department for Work & Pensions' proposed changes is the right one. Stronger safeguards against scams are essential, and protecting savers must remain the priority.
However, those safeguards should be designed so they target genuine risks without creating unnecessary barriers for people making legitimate transfers.
Most savers simply want to bring together the pension pots they've built up throughout their working lives. They shouldn't face avoidable delays or unnecessary complexity when doing so.
Helping employees achieve better outcomes
Helping employees save for retirement isn't just about getting people into a pension. It's also about helping them understand and manage the savings they've built over the course of their careers. Keeping savers safe must always come first.
The system should make it as easy as possible for people to complete legitimate pension transfers with confidence.
Strong consumer protection and a straightforward customer experience are not competing objectives. They reinforce one another. When savers can move their pensions safely and easily, they're more likely to stay engaged, make better decisions and achieve stronger retirement outcomes.
Download Cushon’s Workplace Pension Report 2026.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Cushon
Cushon is a workplace pensions and savings provider with an award-winning proposition.
