Background

  • An established company with 100 staff
  • Existing employee benefit programme with four core benefits (Pensions, Income protection, Life assurance, and Private medical)
  • No changes since the late 1990’s when employee numbers were considerably lower

Challenges

  • Over time, legislation changes had meant that some aspects of the benefits were no longer valid or applicable
  • To communicate any changes to employees in a positive manner
  • Some current claims on the existing private medical scheme were ongoing at the time of the review
  • Longer serving members of the old style group personal pension scheme had in built penalties on their pension funds if transferred to another provider, and also had collected many different policy numbers and different complex opaque charging structures
  • To modernise the entire programme on a cost neutral budget

What we did

  • Examined claims experience on all risk products with a view to implementing an appropriate structure for the future based on past experiences
  • We requested tenders from the entire group risk market place for the three core group risk benefits required, using current membership details and past claims experience
  • We implemented a simple transparent single charged pension scheme that the company were able to administer online. Each employee had internet access to their own account
  • As part of the process of transferring the old pension funds across to the new scheme and closing the old scheme down, we analysed each members existing accumulated pension fund to ensure the viability and critical yields required after transfer
  • We implemented a new Private Medical plan that introduced a new underwriting basis of ‘Medical History Disregarded’ which allowed all existing and new members the freedom to make claims without the restrictions of exclusions and waiting periods
  • We handled the entire implementation process, managing all the paperwork and roll out to the employees with no hassle or disruption
  • We introduced a specialist HR consultant to assist with the creation of a staff handbook
  • We carried out a series of employee communication presentations and workshops
  • We handled the entire implementation process, managing all the paperwork and roll out to the employees with no hassle or disruption

Result

  • The entire benefit programme has been completely brought up to date and allows the flexibility to review and change as circumstances require
  • Employees have more control and understanding about their retirement planning and have online tools and support from Chesterford to help them achieve their retirement goals
  • The entire review and new improved benefit programme was introduced on a cost neutral basis and in fact led to an overall saving in the first year
  • Employees were positive and motivated by the attention that their employer had now given to these benefits with the improvements that had resulted