I reckon most people like choice , but they hate taking decisions. So most people (me included) like defaults which take the decision for us.
The default’s one way of helping people to engage with choice is to tell them they don’t have to worry, if they can’t decide there is always a default decision to go with…
Garry Carter (the unstoppable..)
Imagine the problem that you have if you are Garry Carter, the CEO of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers. You’ve got 30,000 bookkeepers all looking after more than 250,000 employers who are looking for help on things like RTI and auto-enrolment.
These bookkeepers like bookkeeping – they don’t like payroll but it’s part of the deal -they don’t do pensions advice (either giving or receiving).
“Auto-enrolment would be alright if it wasn’t for all that pension stuff!”
That’s what one bolshy bookkeeper told me.
They’ve been telling Garry that sort of things for years!
So what do you do if you’re Garry?
Well you give your bookkeepers just what they want “choice”! And then when they start thinking about taking a decision you ask them if they want a bit of help…
And you say that you’ve fixed up a simple way to apply for an Aviva Group Personal Pension which can be their qualified workplace pensions. You tell them it won’t take more than 3-4 minutes to “do all the paperwork” (of course there isn’t any paper but you are using the language they understand) and you call it ICB Pension Solutions.
What’s more, they get someone to hold their hand, a dedicated Independent Financial Adviser by the name of LEBC Group.
Going down this route is simple, everything is defaulted – 3 months postponement -tier one earnings and boosh!
What’s the package look like Garry?
All the support stuff is supplied by LEBC Group – webinars, “marketing collateral” and software that links Aviva up to whatever payroll is being used.
“Heh – it’s all in a box.”
Now if you are reading this with a jaundiced eye, you might be saying-
“that looks a little too good to be true, what does all that LEBC stuff cost..”
Then you’re right. As in – it does cost – a flat initial fee and a small monthly retainer that can be as low as £5pm. ICB members can obtain details from the ICB website, they’re also eager to help non-members I’m told, so get in contact.
That may have made you think?
Think before you buy!
And this is exactly Garry wants you to do. It’s a default, but it’s not the only option. At the start of the process the employer is a given a choice, full market review or the Aviva option. Informed choice TPR calls it.
In yesterday’s article, I suggested that any employer going down a pre-selected channel should be asked to complete a reason why statement they could send to their staff
“Where an employer has chosen a workplace pension scheme, he should provide clear of evidence of why that scheme was chosen and why other options weren’t”.
Because if one of Garry’s bookkeepers cannot answer that question and be proud of that answer, I don’t think they’ve really made a choice.
And if the bookkeeper hasn’t made the choice, you can be pretty sure that at some point – the bookkeeper will be asking who has – and pointing fingers at Garry.
This seems to make sense. Garry looks like he has cracked it. He’ll have to find someone research the market for choice, but I might be able to help him there!
