Admin / Technology

The number of scheme members contacting call centres for information about their pensions has grown significantly over the last year, says Equiniti Paymaster.

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has taking a significant step to bringing member services in-house, awarding a ten-year contract to administration software provider Civica.

More than two thirds of respondents believe the cost of equalising guaranteed minimum pensions (GMPs) will exceed the monetary risks posed.

Most Buzz respondents were fairly relaxed over the exit fees charged by some third party administrators (TPAs). Although 28% of contributors said these were impeding trustees who wanted to switch providers, 34% said this was not the case.

Rachel Dalton looks at how schemes are coping with the changes to tax relief

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The impending Pensions Administration Standard Association (PASA) code of conduct on transfers is likely to ban administrators from withholding manual calculation sheets when schemes change providers, PP understands.

The industry has spent "millions" on inadequate technology and must take it "more seriously" in order to improve member experience, says an IT specialist.

Pension transfers have seen a 42% rise year on year, according to Origo.

More than half of Buzz respondents were concerned that service level agreements used to monitor the performance of third-party administrators focused too heavily on response times. But a quarter of contributors were happy with how SLAs were used.