The Pension Federation in the Netherlands has agreed a code of conduct for how pension schemes should deal with complaints from their members.

The code of conduct is in line with the new regulations of the Future Pensions Act and the aim is for all federation members to work according to the code within a year and a half.

Recommendations from The Pensions Ombudsman and the AFM are also included within the code.

It describes how pension funds should deal with complaints in a transparent and consumer-friendly way through 35 provisions.

This aims to create a common basis for dealing with complaints that pension scheme members can rely on, regardless of which pension scheme they are a member of.

To monitor how federation members are progressing, each pension scheme will complete an online questionnaire each year, based on the provisions of the code.

The questionnaire is in line with the Golden Ear standard, with the Golden Ear Foundation encouraging organisations to listen and respond to customers as much as possible.

The Pension Federation will publish an overview every year with the score of each pension fund in relation to the code of conduct.

“Listening to what participants really want from the pension fund, that is the core of this line of conduct,” commented Pension Federation chairman, Ger Jaarsma.

“This code of conduct provides concrete details on how to do that. The saying ‘every complaint is a gift’ is a cliché, but it is true.

“Every contact with a participant can thus become the starting point for further improving the service. This will bring us as a whole pension sector to a good level.”

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