as they are left hanging on the telephone by firms

Savers trying to use new pension freedoms have to hang on the phone 3.5 minutes on average to reach their provider and end up abandoning the call 16 per cent of the time. When people get through they stay on the line discussing their pensions for an average 8.5 minutes, according to service data released by the Financial Conduct Authority. The watchdog said the pension industry is fielding around 200,000 calls a week, and there have been 'operational challenges at a minority of firms', but that service has improved. Waiting time is down from 4.5 minutes, the call abandonment rate is down from 20 per cent, and call length is down from 10 minutes, it found. The FCA has just launched a wider information-gathering exercise to find out the scale of problems facing people who want to use new pension freedoms, which give over-55s full access to their retirement pots......Read more here