PENSIONS
this might mean is all these hitherto silent members might come knocking. It’s not just the pension administrator who may get queries from individuals. The dashboard will have some form of signposting to MoneyHelper, an organisation that brings together the support and services of three government-backed financial guidance providers: the Money Advice Service, the Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise. MoneyHelper has been running since June 2021 and already has a “Find my lost pension: tracing and finding lost pensions” section, with guidance that if an individual is trying to trace a workplace pension – a scheme arranged by a previous employer – the first point of contact should be that employer, which could lead to a human resources or payroll team receiving that initial request. Where a pension scheme is a legacy scheme, run by the employer many years ago or inherited as part of an acquisition and not the employer’s current pension scheme, employers need to prepare their current staff who they consider may be contacted by former employees about these legacy schemes. These staff will need to know what the schemes are called and who the current administrator is so that queries can be answered quickly and efficiently.
considered and when. For example, look at systems, data, automation and reporting. Could they be modernised or enhanced? It’s not just about size, it’s about quality and resources – and potentially the strain on those as data still needs to be reviewed and benefit entitlements need to be accurate. “If the dashboard does its job, it will spark interest in pensions. What this might mean is all these hitherto silent members might come knocking” Trustees would do well to at least plan, if not start, to undertake this work before launch of the pensions dashboard to minimise time taken up in responding to members requesting information on benefits and entitlements. Schemes with more than 100 relevant members, and which will therefore appear on the dashboard, have three working days for a defined contribution scheme (money purchase) or ten working days for a final salary scheme to calculate and return the prescribed pension value data to the dashboard. Trustees might find that if members feel they aren’t getting accurate and timely information this might lead to an increase in member complaints, which all schemes will
want to avoid. A way to do this is to have a plan in place – TPR has a useful checklist on its website that simplifies the actions trustees need to be taking now. However, it’s not all doom and gloom, Dashboards present an excellent opportunity for trustees to: l reconnect and strengthen communications with their pension scheme membership l remind members (specifically deferred members) of the options available to them, for example, if they are over a certain age, that they can consider early retirement l remind members about keeping contact details up to date and confirming beneficiaries for any death benefits. The importance of having named beneficiaries gives members the confidence that their wishes will be considered if any discretionary death benefit does come into payment. Not only will this help a member with their retirement planning but also the trustee / employer who is looking to complete any derisking exercises. Ultimately, a trustee is responsible for the proper running of a pension scheme and to act in the best interests of the scheme member. For trustees looking after schemes with less than 100 members that becomes more problematic in this case, but there’s still a lot that can be done to help and support members and build trust and engagement. You never know, it might even generate a completely new rapport, new engagement and some unexpectedly sizeable benefits! n
Are trustees ready for dashboards?
It’s important to have an action plan that is broken down into what needs to be
59
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 104 | October 2024
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker