The Retail Distribution Review (RDR) has not taken note of leavers of pension schemes and will costs employees leaving one plan and joining another £123million per year, warns Creative Benefit Solutions.

Sally Webber, managing director at the employee benefits consultancy, told Pensions Age that she believes the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has "missed" the damaging cost of joining new pension schemes has on workers .

The changes proposed by RDR will require employees to pay advisory and management costs to join a company scheme. Currently, this will mean that workers have to pay about £350 each, every time they join a new scheme, according to Creative Benefit Solutions.

"If you have to pay, say, £300 to join a scheme, and then you leave to join a new employer, you have to pay again. This has been missed by the FSA, and we are concerned that people will not join a scheme (as a result)."

Doug Johnstone, chairman of Creative Benefit Solutions, said: "These costs will impact on the number of employees saving for their pension.

"We are supportive of the FSA in its efforts to protect consumers and ensure the financial services industry works for them. However, we strongly believe that this is not the way to do it and we urge the FSA to open a dialogue with us and other pension scheme providers so that this injustice can be resolved."

There is also the risk of people failing to take advice, Webber said. "Corporate PLC does not have enough money on the whole to go and provide advice. It is not going to stump up £300 per member on top of the pension contribution."

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