Many people do not realise how bad the true value of compensation from the Pension Protection Fund is, according to Rothesay Life head of business development team Sammy Cooper-Smith.

Speaking at the Pensions Age Northern Conference in Leeds, 7 June, Cooper-Smith agreed with another speaker, PPF chief risk officer Hans den Boer, that the lifeboat fund is a "fantastic body for social good" as it provides a great safety net for everyone.

However, he said he does not think the press or anyone in the industry does a “good job of describing just how bad it actually is for members”.

“The PPF is a lot better than what went before, but when you look at the value of someone’s pension if they’re subject to PPF cuts, they can lose between 10 and 50 per cent of their benefit.

“It’s engineered such that they don’t see a big cut day one, and for those that don’t understand inflation and pension increases it doesn’t look very bad. But in terms of the true value of their benefit if it goes into the PPF, there is a significant reduction,” he said.

Earlier in the day, PPF chief risk officer Hans den Boer noted that over the last two years there has been a “greater focus" on the PPF due to high profile cases such as BHS, Tata Steel and Hoover.

“In all cases, we are there to provide protection and there is no doubt we are in a good financial position and we can afford to pay compensation to members.”

Since the original publication Cooper-Smith has revised the figures from 16 - 30 per cent to 10 - 50 per cent.

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