Pension freedom payouts soar to £1.8bn

In the months since April, 256,000 payments were made to 159,000 people, seemingly double the number processed in the previous two quarters and more than in the three months after the reforms were fully launched. However, the figures are somewhat skewed as reporting was made compulsory only in April this year, while it was voluntary in the first year. In Q2 last year, immediately after the freedoms were launched, 121,000 withdrawals were made worth a total of £1.56bn. Rates slowed towards the end of the year and in the first three months of 2016 when just north of £800m was withdra...