Now: Pensions has confirmed its monthly employer service charges from 1 January 2016 and at the same time announced an enhanced service.
Employers supported by a payroll bureau receive a reduced rate of £20 plus VAT per month or just £12.50 plus VAT if they employ up to four people.
Additionally, the standard monthly employer service charge is £36 plus VAT.
Employers supported by a payroll bureau therefore receive a 44 per cent discount on the standard monthly employer service charge while micro clients of payroll bureaux receive a 65 per cent discount on the standard charge.
Now: Pensions said over the coming months it will be offering a number of services to support small and micro businesses.
These include a dedicated team and named team manager for employers who call the client support team to help ensure that any issues are resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Alongside this, they will be offering live online chat with Now: Pensions’ support staff so that employers and payroll bureaux can receive real-time support when administering their pension schemes
The firm will also be offering screen share which gives Now: Pensions remote access to provide “hands on” help to employers and payroll bureaux.
It will also offer a series of regular live webinars to support small firms and their advisers with all aspects of scheme set up and ongoing administration
Additionally, Now: Pensions said it will extend its opening hours to 8am to 6pm on weekdays.
The firm already handles all statutory communications for all categories of workers, not just eligible jobholders, but also entitled workers and non-eligible jobholders.
Morten Nilsson, chief executive of Now: Pensions, said: “Auto-enrolment is a cause of considerable anxiety for many smaller firms and the new services we’re introducing should provide much needed comfort.
“One message that came over both in the consultation and in our previous experience is the critical role that payroll bureaux play supporting their clients with auto enrolment.
“Employers that come to Now: Pensions via a payroll bureau are significantly better prepared and require less support than those that come direct and we have reflected this in the employer service charge.
“It’s important to remember that auto enrolment is an ongoing responsibility not a “one off” task and our charge reflects this reality. Regulation is constantly changing and there’s considerable work involved in ensuring ongoing compliance.
“We believe that the monthly charge reflects the ongoing support required and the small firms we’ve spoken to say it’s much more manageable than a large up-front payment.”
Colin Rodger, director at Alexander Sloan Financial Planning, said: “I think it shows that pension providers are finding that running auto-enrolment is more involved than they thought, and their pricing models are being revised to reflect this.”
ruth.gillbe@ft.com