Pensions minister warns of personal accounts teething problems

The industry must not expect "instantaneous results" with regards to the implementation of personal accounts, pensions minister Angela Eagle warns.

Speaking at the National Association of Pension Fund's seminar today - The 2012 Pensions Reforms: In Depth - Eagle says there would be some issues with the finer points of the implementation.

But she urged the industry not to get bogged down with these small issues - and focus on the big picture of building a robust infrastructure, which could be subsequently improved.

Eagle says: "We can't expect instantaneous results. We need to look at the medium to long term."

She adds: "It is better to start with a good thing and then make the changes which will make the system more robust."

Eagle also refutes industry claims that people would be no better off under personal accounts. She cites department for work and pensions data showing 95% of people would get more than they put in, 70% would get at least double and only 5% would lose out.