Dedicated servicing

When deciding on the type of scheme you want, and whether Scottish Widows is right for you, our Specialist Tenders Team and/or Account Manager will be your main point of contact. They’ll help to arrange and co-ordinate:

• All the evaluation, pricing and planning information you and/or your adviser needs to make a decision
• Our restructures & transfers service if required
• Any actuarial or other head office support that’s needed.

We price schemes individually based on their expected profile. We take into account a combination of factors including any extra services you wish us to provide, the profile of your workforce, the number of employees you expect to join and their average payments to the scheme.

If you choose Scottish Widows, one of our dedicated servicing teams or Account Managers will be immediately assigned to look after your scheme on an ongoing basis.

• You’ll have direct access to them via their dedicated phone and email
• They only deal with workplace pensions and are specialists in administration and personal service
• They’ll help you with online services, and find the easiest or quickest ways to do your routine pensions admin
• To help us maintain service quality, we only allow accredited staff to handle specific tasks – whether that’s processing large scheme payments or answering the phone
• They’ll try and fit in with your way of working rather than expecting you to fit with ours.

Because some routine administration happens every month, it will be reassuring to know you can rely on a dedicated team who take personal responsibility for the quality of their service.

A dedicated Implementation Manager or servicing team will set up your scheme and create your member records using our online services. If it is a particularly large or complex scheme, we’ll assign a Project Manager from our head office team to plan and manage the whole process alongside them. This will include:

• Agreeing a detailed implementation plan and time line with you
• Setting up the scheme shell, data and initial contribution file
• Co-ordinating activities between key contacts at Scottish Widows, your scheme adviser and the staff who will be promoting and running the scheme at your workplace.

Promoting your scheme in the workplace not only raises its profile, but also increases employee appreciation of the valuable benefits you’re making available.

To help you introduce the scheme, our head office marketing consultants can offer a wide range of advice and materials. The range of support available for your scheme is agreed at the tender stage, and may include some or all of the following:

• Advice on planning your promotion, and a detailed marketing plan
• Member joining packs
• Posters, wage slip flyers, desk drop leaflets
• Example announcement letters
• Building and hosting a digital pension website
• Powerpoint presentations – our tender and enrolment team can also carry out worksite presentations to explain the scheme in person, to groups of employees
• Branded emails and adverts for your staff intranet
• Support for worksite marketing.

Printed items can be our standard Scottish Widows materials, or be overprinted with your company’s logo and name. In some cases, bespoke materials may be offered, created to your own design.

Regular payments can easily be submitted to us in bulk over the internet using our online services. We’ve streamlined the process so that your scheme administrator can also complete other routine member administration at the same time, including processing any members who are:

• Taking payment holidays
• Paying additional lump sums
• Leaving or joining the scheme.

We normally provide close personal support for several months after your scheme is set up. This helps your administrator become confident about running the scheme on a day to day basis.

However, your dedicated Account Manager or servicing team will be on hand for any admin support you need to ensure:

• Our service continues to meet your needs and expectations
• You have access to scheme information and reports
• You are kept up to date with new service options
• Member communications continue to be effective.

If you agree, we may also invite to you to take part in our workplace pensions’ client research. Listening is one of the key ways in which we’re able to put our clients at the heart of our business.