Employees should automatically be made members of their company pension scheme and be encouraged to save for retirement, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference, Stephen Haddrill, director general of the ABI, said: “We need to revitalise savings through the workplace.
“Auto-enrolment with an opt-out, coupled with more financial advice delivered in the workplace, would put Britain back on the road to saving,” he said.
Tony Blair is thought to favour the auto-enrolment option, which has been successful in New Zealand. The government will base its decisions on the recommendations of the Pensions Commission, which reports next month.
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Haddrill also called for more flexibility on retirement ages.
“Retirement should be a process, not an age,” he said. “All these changes are evolutionary, but together they will go a long way to putting the British pension system back on track and get more people saving more.”
