This week we lead with two stories on communication, and how to learn when things don’t go so well.
The NHS reformed its pensions communication after surveying its employer bodies in 2013 and discovering one in five did not believe the scheme was able to answer most questions about pensions raised by employees.
“We recognise that we need to improve our communications approach with employers,” said James Davenport, senior communications manager at NHS Business Services Authority, at the time. Today we have reported on the steps they made to do just that.
MyCSP, the private/public sector joint venture that took over the administration of 1.1m members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme last year, has experienced issues with members having to wait for extended periods to get through to a representative, as well as payment delays.
This week we’ve looked at how it has addressed these problems, prioritised members’ needs in the wave of calls it was receiving, and expanded its communication methods to smooth the transition.
But what of the wider industry? Schemes face myriad challenges when it comes to administration and communication, and experts suggest data lie at the heart of both. Get that right and you may just have fewer mistakes to learn from.
Who’s playing sweeper?
The further protection announced last week by the Financial Conduct Authority to give a “second line of defence” for pension customers is welcome – but last-minute and difficult to evaluate.
We are not expecting the full requirements until the end of this month. But we know there will be a robust rule to get over to customers the importance of the government’s Pension Wise guidance service, to ask key questions about the customer’s circumstances and give “relevant risk warnings in response to answers from the consumer”.
But given what we know from the watchdog’s own study of the market about certain providers evading their responsibilities, we should be cautious here.
Rules can be tough, but investigation and punishment have to be equally so.
Ian Smith is editor of Pensions Expert. You can follow him on Twitter @iankmsmith and the team @pensions_expert.
