However a government evaluation reports that these customers were no less satisfied overall with the service, and almost all customers who completed their appointment (99%) said that the Guidance Specialist giving their appointment explained that Pension Wise is impartial and does not make specific recommendations.
Of the 1,906 people questioned as part of the Pension Wise Service Evaluation, nine in ten (91%) customers were satisfied with the service overall.
Of the 6% of customers who were dissatisfied with the service, the main reasons given were that the appointment told them nothing new (41%), the service wasn’t personalised enough (33%), and that it didn’t give them a specific recommendation (24%).
Over four-fifths (85%) of customers felt that their understanding of their options improved as a result of using the Pension Wise service and customers who completed their appointment reported taking various actions since the appointment.
In total, 89% of customers had taken at least one concrete action in the decision making process since their appointment.
The most common actions taken were speaking to their pension provider (60%), making a decision on which option to take (57%), and calculating their retirement income (56%) and tax (54%).
