Pension schemes increasingly use online tools

Results taken from the company’s 15th Annual Pension Scheme Administration Survey – which is due to be published on June 3 – has revealed that although most schemes continue to use paper-based documents, there is an increasing trend towards using online communication.

The survey which looks at trends from both in house administered and third party administered schemes shows that 58pc of schemes now have a dedicated pensions website, some 63pc of these are through the employing company and 37pc via a third-party administrator.

However, just one in four schemes provides web-enabled access to members’ individual records.

More than a third say they are unsure whether such access will ever be provided, and nearly one in five have no intention of providing this facility.

Capita Hartshead managing director Mike Addenbrooke said: "Communications is an area that has seen significant improvement in this year’s survey – almost half of schemes now rate their communication with members as good or excellent. This is great news, as it is indicative of a better level of service being provided to members.

"The results indicate that pension schemes in the UK may have turned a significant corner in the last 12 months – particularly in terms of the increased use of web-based communication, a shift, which the industry has been expecting for some time."