June deadline for pensions option

Thursday 18th January 2007, 12:00AM GMT.

NORWICH Union has extended the deadline for Islanders to sign up to new personal pensions until the start of June, following discussions with financial advisers.

As reported last week, Norwich Union is now the only provider of insured pensions in the Island. It has decided that it is no longer viable to invest in new business and initially planned to close its books from 1 February. But following lobbying from the Jersey branch of the Personal Finance Society, the insurer has reconsidered the timing of its decision. It will hold talks to try to create a product suitable for the Channel Islands that would also be more attractive to other providers. In the meantime, Jersey’s Comptroller of Income Tax, Malcolm Campbell, is meeting his counterparts from Guernsey and the Isle of Man today in London to discuss the situation and the potential gap in pension provision.

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