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.
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.”
