The ‘stronger nudge’ regulations, which come into force from 1 June 2022, require DC scheme trustees to offer to book their members an appointment with Pension Wise when they apply to access their flexible pension benefits (covered in more detail in our February edition of Vision).
TPR has now updated its communicating and reporting guidance for DC schemes to include a link to the Pension Wise booking tool. This update follows various changes made to the guidance in March 2022 to reflect the stronger nudge requirements.
Except in limited circumstances, trustees must not proceed with a member’s application to access flexible benefits until they have confirmation from the member that they have received guidance or have opted out of receiving guidance. Records should be kept of whether a member has either received Pension Wise guidance or has opted out. This will help trustees decide whether they need to refer the member to Pension Wise guidance again at a later date.