Is it me or does personal administration these days feel more complex than ever?

In today’s day and age, where everything should be the quickest and easiest it has ever been to do – even the simplest things can still seem like a long, slow, drawn-out burden.

Just recently, my personal car insurance was due for another year’s renewal – “great” I thought, so I started my annual pilgrimage of looking at my new provider options – only to be hit with that feeling of stress; sluggishly scrolling through endless choices that all looked the same… hard work I hate!

With another incident free year on the roads: no bumps, prangs, speeding tickets or claims – I was the proud owner of a completely clean slate, so imagine my face when my car insurance ‘automatic’ re-quote came in at nearly double the previous years’ premium. “What’s going on?!” I thought? I hadn’t claimed for an accident, my car hadn’t been stolen and I’m another year older, wiser and safer on the roads!

As we all see, these convenient ‘automatic’ renewals rarely result in a better outcome even if the cover and circumstances haven’t changed.

This shows what can happen with third party supplier and adviser services if not reviewed, challenged, contested or at the very least, metaphorically kicking their tyres!

Short term pain, long term gain

Rattled by the unexpected increase in premiums, even though I had been what I considered ‘the perfect customer’ – it was exactly the incentive I needed to start shopping around, inputting all that information in the search of the golden grail: better prices based on my performance!

By putting in a lot of information into various insurance search engines, I ended up with not only a lower premium (for the same cover), but I also received a lower voluntary excess and money off recovery services. A lot of hassle and work, but a great outcome.

Similarly, a well-managed review of providers can result in better outcomes – whether it be:

• better client engagement/management
• a stronger team working for you
• lower fees, or
• a better contract for services.

The win/win would also extend to the scheme members and the sponsoring company/companies as they can see evidence of the review and outcomes.

We hear you

We understand the frustrations too much choice can bring, but the importance of regularaly reviewing your services to ensure you’re getting the best service at the best price. So both myself, and the rest of adviser review service line can help, as we look to do all that hard work for you.

The Pension Regulator’s General Code has been pushing good governance for trustees to periodically review their adviser and service providers. To date, many schemes have still not carried out formal reviews of their appointed advisers or service providers, which often results in:

• something going wrong
• key people leaving the provider, or
• costs needing to be cut.  

At Vidett, we have an independent viewpoint. Whilst many trustees have used several advisers or service providers over the years, we can provide a personal service addressing your needs. You won’t need to do all the leg work (or have to do all the work like insurance renewals with the various brokers), simply give us the reasons and type of review you want to undertake and a dedicated team at Vidett will handle it for you and provide a better outcome.

If you would like to discuss any of the above, please contact Geoff Winn or one of our Adviser Review and Benchmarking team.