A provider cannot choose not to send these packs because advisers don’t want them to be sent, or even because a customer has asked not to receive them anymore.

This means advised customers will soon be receiving a recommendation to seek guidance or advice to understand their retirement options, even though they are already receiving advice.

That recommendation arguably makes some sense in relation to all the wake-up packs issued in accordance with the age-based triggers.

The recommendation to seek guidance or advice will look much stranger when issued to a client who is accessing their pension saving for the first time – one of the circumstances where the wake-up pack will have to be issued going forwards, and where that client will just have received specific advice on their chosen course of action.

This recommendation to customers to take generic guidance, even when a provider knows that advice specific to that individual’s circumstances has just been given, feels like a risk.

Gareth James is head of technical at AJ Bell