Lane Clark & Peacock - Comments / Thoughts?

cloud_dog

Hi.... Just posting to see if the more pension worldly wise people out there have any experience of the above?

Was just logging into the Capita portal to re-run some quotes and there is a notice that as from 1 October 2025 my DB scheme administration will be transferring to Lane Clark & Peacock.

I am considering taking my (deferred) DB from 1 May 2026, so this has added a degree of uncertainty into my mix, e.g. what is their service like, the timeliness of said service responses, might there be experience of them calculating the DB benefit in a slightly different manner to Capita (which I have based my plans on), etc.

squirrelpie

Don't know much about them but Steve Webb is a partner there, apparently, so it's probably not too bad.

AlanP_2

Benefits will be based on scheme rules not the random ideas of the administrators so that shouldn't be a concern.

Personally I would be starting the process at least 3 months in advance of my planned date if not sooner.

Albermarle

AlanP_2 said:

Benefits will be based on scheme rules not the random ideas of the administrators so that shouldn't be a concern.

Personally I would be starting the process at least 3 months in advance of my planned date if not sooner.

For sure scheme rules can not be changed but pension administrators vary in quality quite a lot. Some are dreadfully slow, so like you say I would start the process more like 4 or 5 months in advance.

MyRealNameToo

cloud_dog said:

Hi.... Just posting to see if the more pension worldly wise people out there have any experience of the above?

Was just logging into the Capita portal to re-run some quotes and there is a notice that as from 1 October 2025 my DB scheme administration will be transferring to Lane Clark & Peacock.

I am considering taking my (deferred) DB from 1 May 2026, so this has added a degree of uncertainty into my mix, e.g. what is their service like, the timeliness of said service responses, might there be experience of them calculating the DB benefit in a slightly different manner to Capita (which I have based my plans on), etc.

Have used LCP several times in the past for actuarial consultancy services but never as a pensions outsourcer. 

Have used Capita in the past, they can be variable depending on how profitable the account is for them; they'll put more effort and resources into accounts that are making them the most money whereas if something is slim pickings they'll be less resourced and unlikely to be the best resources. 

Schemes tend to be very prescriptive so things like benefits won't change just because the administrators have changed. In more fringe elements which require actuarial opinion where things can fluctuate due to someone else or different tools being used like trivial commutation valuations or serious ill health commutation but that depends on the scheme, some define these things well so they won't vary much, some are very open so can vary more significantly. 

cloud_dog

AlanP_2 said:

Benefits will be based on scheme rules not the random ideas of the administrators so that shouldn't be a concern.

Personally I would be starting the process at least 3 months in advance of my planned date if not sooner.

There have been prior posts on here regarding how the calculation has been applied or re-applied by a new administrator.  So, it is not the basics of the benefit accrual but the potential experience of anyone who may have encountered a 'variation' (for whatever reason) with this administrator (compared to a prior administrator). 

DRS1

cloud_dog said:

AlanP_2 said:

Benefits will be based on scheme rules not the random ideas of the administrators so that shouldn't be a concern.

Personally I would be starting the process at least 3 months in advance of my planned date if not sooner.

There have been prior posts on here regarding how the calculation has been applied or re-applied by a new administrator.  So, it is not the basics of the benefit accrual but the potential experience of anyone who may have encountered a 'variation' (for whatever reason) with this administrator (compared to a prior administrator). 

Are you taking benefits early?  Something which may change with new actuaries (and maybe administrators) is early retirement factors.

It is interesting that no-one has mentioned the learning curve for someone taking over the scheme administration.  Getting things set up on new systems and maybe not being aware of any particular nuances of the scheme could lead to some errors in the early stages of a new administration.  So as others have said give them a long lead time.

On-the-coast

I’m assuming that even the best are slow. 

What incentives do they have to be fast? None as far as I’m aware. I will start talking to WTW at least 6m before I intend to draw pension. 
All you can hope for is that they are accurate. 

DavidT67

cloud_dog said:

Hi.... Just posting to see if the more pension worldly wise people out there have any experience of the above?

Was just logging into the Capita portal to re-run some quotes and there is a notice that as from 1 October 2025 my DB scheme administration will be transferring to Lane Clark & Peacock.

I am considering taking my (deferred) DB from 1 May 2026, so this has added a degree of uncertainty into my mix, e.g. what is their service like, the timeliness of said service responses, might there be experience of them calculating the DB benefit in a slightly different manner to Capita (which I have based my plans on), etc.

Royal Mail post, long paper forms, wet signatures and slow turnaround is the order of the day with LCP.  

Our pension trustees moved away from them to a firm with a web portal to view benefits and payslips, secure email for correspondence and noticeably faster turnaround on applications and enquires.

That said, LCP can't be worse than Capita.

cloud_dog

DavidT67 said:

cloud_dog said:

Hi.... Just posting to see if the more pension worldly wise people out there have any experience of the above?

Was just logging into the Capita portal to re-run some quotes and there is a notice that as from 1 October 2025 my DB scheme administration will be transferring to Lane Clark & Peacock.

I am considering taking my (deferred) DB from 1 May 2026, so this has added a degree of uncertainty into my mix, e.g. what is their service like, the timeliness of said service responses, might there be experience of them calculating the DB benefit in a slightly different manner to Capita (which I have based my plans on), etc.

Royal Mail post, long paper forms, wet signatures and slow turnaround is the order of the day with LCP.  

Our pension trustees moved away from them to a firm with a web portal to view benefits and payslips, secure email for correspondence and noticeably faster turnaround on applications and enquires.

That said, LCP can't be worse than Capita.

The portal was quite useful

I'll wait until 1 October and begin comms with LCP.