Employers wanting assistance with staging can opt for a one-off staging fee of £1,000 with a small on-going fee per member, per month, or a discounted up-front fee.
Schemes staging with Friends Life can do so free of charge where no additional support services are required.
Friends Life has 1,200 companies due to stage during the first half of 2014. It says its new proposition will enable many of these companies to choose the automatic enrolment services that best suit their needs, from a basic qualifying scheme through to a fully outsourced service benefiting from Friends Life’s range of record keeping, communications and technical expertise. The provider says the launch reflects its commitment to the workplace pensions market.
Friends Life managing director, corporate benefits Colin Williams says: “The profile of companies staging during 2014 is very different from before. We expect to see firms without in-house pensions specialists or external advisers making important benefits decisions on behalf of their employees, while relying on payroll and pensions providers to provide expertise to help with technical issues.
“We understand that not all companies will have the ability to pay for advice and may need support on topics such as compliance, legislation and technology. As a result we have introduced these changes to meet the needs of the next wave of companies staging this year.”
