Aviva has rolled out an interactive auto-enrolment tool that it says will enable advisers to manage staging requirements for multiple employers across a range of providers from a single online hub.
The Pensions Regulator estimates nearly 30,000 medium-sized employers, employing 50 to 249 employees, will be ‘staged in’ and thus be required to have an occupational pension scheme in place that qualifies with the new rules between April and the end of 2014.
Aviva said its ‘provider neutral’ planner will provide a clear understanding of the steps and tasks required for each employer as they plan for staging, with features including a traffic light system, that highlights tasks to complete.
Billy Burnside, Aviva’s head of platform development and E-commerce, said: “At Aviva we want to support employers and advisers through automatic enrolment and ensure we do everything we can to encourage them to plan thoroughly and well in advance of staging.
“Our experience tells us that some employers are struggling to grasp all of the processes around auto-enrolment and are increasingly turning to advisers and providers for help. While there is a lot of information freely available about automatic enrolment, there is little practical help to support advisers wanting to engage with employers and support them through their staging.
“Creating an interactive automated tool is an ideal way to free up advisers’ time so they do not become over-burdened by the administration side of staging while at the same time keeping them at the centre of the auto-enrolment process with their employer clients. And employers who also need help have a clear road-map for getting their staging right.”
