Pension cold-calling ban takes effect - thoughts?

Haven't had any for about 18 months?
Not since I bought a whistle

We have noticed prior to the government ban and fining cold calling firms a reduction in calls of this nature.

We received none yesterday and the same so far today.

I am aware that this is possibly pure coincidence as calls come from mainly from outside of the UK and are therefore difficult to enforce the fines let alone with old the call in the first place.

In fact it is usually the foreign code callers that are the b----y nuisance.

It's cold calling from charities that drives me mad. They ask you for say '£10 per month'. When you say you can't afford it and that you already give regularly to charity, they appear to listen and then say 'well can you give £6', then £4 and so on. It's stressful and you feel so mean. At the end of the call they say 'just to say we are such and such an agency working on behalf of the charity who are paying us X thousands of pounds to fund raise'. Unbelievable really.

There are some other "services" that should be very closely regulated Equity Release being one that is currently heavily promoted, for most elderly people it is a bad idea and very beneficial to the company.

ALL cold calling should be banned. If I want something I'll find a provider for myself.

I agree with MissAdventure

I just came on the thread to say that I don't want cold calls concerning pensions, conservatories, ppi, new windows, doors, or compensation for the 'accident' I had.
I consider it a real invasion of privacy, and a liberty, into the bargain!

Now, the new ban prohibits cold-calling in relation to pensions, except where the caller is authorised by the FCA, or is the trustee or manager of an occupational or personal pension scheme, and the recipient of the call consents to calls, or has an existing relationship with the caller.

So the scammers will pretend to be these legitimate people.

Or they just keep going as they are now.

Why would someone who is trying to steal huge amounts of money be worried about making dodgy phone calls?

There should be no legal cold calling at all.

Well, many of the cold callers are criminals out to con you and they will probably just move their operations overseas. However I think that this ban would mean that it will be less easy for them to call on people and sit in their living rooms for hours until they sign.

I do not know anyone caught by these scams, but I worked for a nationalised industry when contributing to the company pension scheme became non-obligatory and you could move funds elsewhere.

The pension fund could not advise people because that would be seen as undue influence, but it was a time when obligatory union membership had just been banned, but all but a few staff were still in the union and the union ran a big advice campaign, in union newsletters, on noticeboards and delivered to our desk. It made it very clear, that nothing then available could compare with the pension you would receive if you stayed in the company scheme and warned of criminals out to scam the innocent.

Despite that, quite a few people did leave the scheme and now and again someone will appear on the media, aggrieved over their pension compared with compatriots who stayed in the company scheme and claiming that no one gave them any help and advice at the time, but the help and advice was there, they either didn't bother to read any of it, or they thought they knew better.

I think it should be compulsory to consult with a financial adviser, registered with the FCA, before being allowed to move funds. However you cannot protect people from themselves and if people choose to ignore professional advice they have to live with the consequences.