Making the most of your pension dashboard

The statutory deadline for connecting to pensions dashboards is finally in sight. Since the regulations were laid, the political scene has shifted with six pensions ministers and one major reset. Connection is a milestone, but with the public launch of the MoneyHelper dashboard possibly only a year away, the real work begins now. Administrators must be prepared for this next phase.

Administrators often model how many possible matches they expect based on members’ data quality and matching strategies. This is only a rough estimate. Users might fail to provide the National Insurance number used in a matching strategy or simply mistype unverified data. If a scheme lacks a matching policy to handle these scenarios, the entity will likely generate far more potential matches than originally thought.

While the onus is on users to contact schemes to resolve matches, administrators need to be ready for a flood of inquiries. Staff must decide whether to handle queries through a dedicated telephone line or an online form. Automation is required, or the process will rely heavily on resources that might be pulled from other business-as-usual tasks.

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For the average worker logging in, the system works only as well as the data provided. If a user enters a digit incorrectly, the system cannot magically find the right pot. The friction of data verification often outweighs the convenience of a single portal, meaning members must keep records updated to avoid a frustrating back-and-forth with administrators.

Providing Value—or benefit—data is a key element of the project. Users expect to see this information immediately upon logging on. Schemes vary in their ability to provide this data. Smaller schemes or those about to trigger wind-up may find it unviable to calculate benefits for all members solely for dashboards. The expense of generating these reports can be a burden, particularly if the entity is slated for closure.

Most of these entities also have small cohorts of “special case” members where calculating benefits in advance is time-consuming and expensive, even if those members might not access the dashboards. Administrators need a plan for these members should they request information.

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Even a large entity with 95% automation may leave several hundred people needing benefit data calculated on request. With a statutory 10-working-day deadline for defined benefit information and only three days for defined contribution, a slick management process is essential.

Retaining management information is a requirement under the dashboard regulations. Administrators, including any AVC providers connecting directly, must record various metrics. This includes the number of view requests received, the time taken to respond to each one, the use of Value data unavailable codes, and confirmation that the entity has remained connected for over 99.5% of the time.