By the summer of 2015, the industry will also proactively offer all customers a comparison of annuity quotes so they can see the range of options available to them, Thoresen wrote in an article in the Sunday Telegraph.
Additionally, it will make sure customers can provide information about their health and lifestyle, so they can make the most of the potential advantages of enhanced annuities.
Thoresen said the measures showed the pensions industry needed to do more following three recommendations the ABI made last year under the Retirement Choices Code.
Among those recommendations was a commitment by providers and the wider industry to “encourage shopping around for the right pension deal”.
But in his article in the Sunday Telegraph, Thoresen suggested simply encouraging retirees to assess their options was not enough, as shown by the FCA’s recent annuities market study.
He wrote that, though 90% of people are aware they can shop around, only two thirds say they do, and less than half of annuities bought are from a different provider to the one people are saving with.
Small pots
As well as the recommendations, Thoresen called on the Chancellor to permit greater flexibility to those with small pension pots ahead of this month’s Budget.
“The pensions industry is calling on the Chancellor to relax the rules around small pension pots – currently savers can only take their pot as cash if they have less than £2,000 in it,” he wrote.
“[But] we think the wrong question is being asked – the key issue is whether people with small pots should annuitise at all, not whether they should have more annuity providers to choose from.
“We would like to see more flexibility for those with pots of less than £10,000 to give more choice at retirement and ultimately improve outcomes for many people.”
