Buzz: Industry unconcerned about consultancy charging

More than half of Buzz respondents were not unduly worried that employers will use consultancy charging to offload set-up costs onto members. Just over a third thought this was a concern, however.

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Question: Are you concerned that employers will offload the set-up cost of auto-enrolment onto employees through consultancy charges?

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Unconcerned contributors were split between those who did not believe employers would adopt these methods, and those who thought it was a fair way of meeting the costs of auto-enrolment.

"I know of no employer so far who intends to or is even contemplating offloading any of the considerable, and well above the DWP-estimated, costs to their employees," said one respondent.
But a contributor from the latter camp asked: "How else are smaller employers going to meet the set-up costs? It might be appropriate to impose a ceiling though."

A like-minded respondent said: "I appreciate that employees should be protected but they should bear some of the costs; they are the ones who will benefit from a pension at the end of the day."

Others said the most important point was that people would be enrolled and would begin saving for retirement.

But some were simply resigned to costs being loaded onto members. "Overcharging has been a fact of life in too many pension arrangements and this is unlikely to change. It would be a waste of my time to be concerned about it," explained one correspondent.

Many of those who were concerned about the practice nevertheless thought businesses, and small businesses in particular, could hardly be blamed for trying to minimise their own costs. Some pointed out that many firms had already had additional costs loaded onto them in tough economic times.

"Businesses are there to make money for their owners," said one contributor. "Spending money on non-core activities takes money away from the owners."