New data obtained via a Freedom of Information request shows complaints submitted to the Pensions Ombudsman have jumped from 6,558 in 2023 to 8,709 in 2024 – a 33% year-on-year increase. The growing number of complaints underscores an industry struggling to meet growing member demands.

While complaints explicitly tied to administration issues declined slightly (701 to 660), the sustained volume points to persistent underlying inefficiencies within schemes’ operational systems.

In response, Mantle the global pensions software provider, is urging schemes, third-party administrators and insurers to urgently modernise their admin infrastructure.

The firm has dubbed this systemic challenge the “Admin Avalanche,” citing a systemic backlog of member servicing issues stemming from outdated technology and a shrinking talent pool of pension administrators creating critical bottlenecks to member service quality.

Risks for administration providers

As Ombudsman complaints increase, Mantle warns that overall service demand is rising – and manual operations can’t scale.

Going beyond the generalities of poor service as a result of inefficient systems, there are some rapidly emerging pinch points.

Take McCloud in the Public Sector

Systems providers have been playing catch up to deliver the required calculations resulting in delays to retirement estimates, payment of benefits and Transfer Value calculations. An inability to calculate TV’s is hitting some members in particular with reports of legal action against Schemes as members can’t divorce with a Transfer Value calculation.

Dashboards requirements are also exposing some platforms where manual calculation of Estimated Retirement Incomes is happening. Upgrading the underlying administration to a modern capable solution solves McCloud, Dashboards and a host of other problems.

James Whittingham, Managing Director of Mantle said:

“The combination of ageing populations, complex benefits structures, and analogue systems is creating a perfect storm. This data reinforces what we hear every day from clients: the volume and complexity of member requests is climbing, while the ability to respond in a timely, accurate manner is becoming harder. Real-time, automated admin infrastructure is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity. Schemes pursuing consolidation or buyout need to show they can deliver seamless, high-quality member servicing.

Mantle’s cloud-based platform supports over 1,200 pension schemes and more than 1.76 million member records. It processes upwards of 20,000 valuation runs and approximately £1 billion in member payments annually, helping reduce errors, speed up service delivery and free up administrator time for high-impact tasks.”

James Whittingham

Managing Director, Mantle.

Ends

Research is based on a Freedom of Information request send to the Pensions Ombudsman submitted in May 2025.

For further information please contact:

Ged Brumby, Edelman Smithfield at ged.brumby@edelmansmithfield.com or on 07540 412301

Susan O’Neill at Susan_Oneill@mantleservices.com or on 02895 210 225

Susan O'Neill

Marketing Manager

News

08 Jul 2025

When pension reform backfires, everyone pays the price. The McCloud remedy, initially designed to reduce public sector pension costs, has instead created an administrative nightmare that’s driving up expenses and leaving members frustrated. What started as a well-intentioned cost-saving measure has morphed into a perfect storm of technical limitations, staffing challenges, and member confusion. Traditional pension management platforms simply weren’t built to handle these dual calculations, creating a cascade of costly problems. Mantle’s Graeme Riddoch discusses the true impact of McCloud on pension schemes and those who depend on them.

What is the McCloud Remedy?

What most people know about the McCloud remedy is that it’s a Public Sector Defined Benefits (DB) Pensions issue that impacts some members. At its heart were reforms designed to curb the cost of Public Sector Pensions by changing accrual to Career Average.  This generally produces lower benefits than Final Salary, thus saving money.

Ultimately, a judge found the changes to be discriminatory and the upshot in simple terms is that both career average and final salary calculations need to be run. LGPS members are presented with “the better of” for their circumstances. Local Government members get both calculations and choose.

So what started out as an exercise designed to reduce costs has had the opposite effect.

What is the impact of the McCloud remedy?

One of the biggest problems is having to run both career average and final salary calculations. The platforms running the schemes were set up for final salary calculations, not career average. Some legacy platforms struggle to fully automate one set of calculations never mind both!

A huge amount of money is therefore being burnt just in this area. We recently came across one large scheme having to run career average calculations on spreadsheets and then manually merge the results with the Final Salary calculations. The net effect was to pretty much double the number of staff required to support the scheme, with the accompanying cost.

Consider serving data to Pensions Dashboards, some platforms struggle with one ERI calculation, never mind two.

The other real-world impact of McCloud is on members. If you can’t automate calculations then getting estimates of benefits is a long painful process. Also, forget member self-serve.

Communication is a real issue, just go on the LGPS website and look at how much copy is dedicated to trying to explain things to members. DB pensions are complicated enough to start with!

There are even more fundamental consequences. The BBC ran a story recently about people unable to get a divorce. The barrier being an inability of the actuary to value the benefits to allow for a pension sharing order.

The problems of a large LGPS fund in the Midlands are well documented with Martin Lewis wading in. The fund in question was struggling so badly that some members hadn’t received their pension 5 months after retirement.

So what’s the remedy? Well, the technology underpinning many schemes isn’t up to the job. To be fair the platforms were never designed to run parallel calculations. Few are capable of calculating Transfer Values, on one basis, never mind two.

Better is possible however. Mantle’s pension management platform runs both career average and final salary in real time. It also supports dual opposite sex records for GMP as well as live transfer values, refreshed daily.

And the cost? Well for one scheme we estimated a 50% reduction in staff costs and a transformation in terms of the service to the member. That’s the real cost of McCloud!

How Mantle’s Pension Management Platform can help.

By upgrading to modern pension management technology platforms designed to handle dual calculations effortlessly, schemes can dramatically reduce operational costs while delivering superior service to members.

Explore how Mantle’s real-time calculation capabilities can transform your scheme administration, cut costs by up to 50%, and give your members the responsive service they deserve. Contact us today at enquiries@mantleservices.com to learn how we can help you navigate the McCloud challenge more efficiently.

Graeme Riddoch

Chief Revenue Officer

Blog

12 Mar 2025

In the ever-evolving world of pension management, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Yet, many pension schemes find themselves stuck with outdated platforms, reluctant to make the leap to more modern solutions.

• Not uncomfortable enough to move 
• Lack of awareness of better solutions 
• Perceived high cost of transition 
• Concerns about impact on the admin team

The comfort zone

On the first point it’s clear that many schemes can be far from satisfied with their current provider but not so dissatisfied that they are actively seeking to move. Often a platform going out of support can be the trigger.

Believe in better

From first-hand experience of talking to pensions managers there’s a low expectation of what can be achieved by moving platform and the problems that can be solved. When they realise that better is possible, they get very interested.

Too expensive

The biggest barrier however can be the anticipated cost to move.

spoke to one pensions manager running a scheme with around 20,000 members. When they moved to their current platform some 10 years ago the cost was in the region of £1M! However, it’s important to consider that technology has evolved, and modern solutions often offer more cost-effective transition processes.

Internal cost to change

It’s not just the transition costs but the impact on staff and resourcing the transition internally. One scheme we spoke to found, the move to their current platform very hard as a lot of the sign off on calculation testing fell on the admin team, who were flat out running the scheme on a day-to-day basis. They vowed never to move again! However, modern platforms have streamlined these processes, significantly reducing the burden on internal teams. 

A modern solution

Mantle relative to many legacy platforms can transform the experience for administrator and member alike. Mantle offers: 

• 100% calculation automation
• Integrated payroll, treasury and accounts  
• Integrated actuarial for live valuations
• Member self-serve in the bundle
• Pensions Dashboards ready 

This creates efficiency, saves money and delivers a better experience for administrators and ultimately the member. 

The cost effective transition


We know from clients that our transition costs are a fraction of others. There’s a number of reasons for this. 

A highly configurable solution. No development required or black box coding of calculations for even the most complex benefit structures. 

 No rocket scientists required. Skilled administrators can set up Mantle reducing setup costs. 

Making it easy

Moving platform is undoubtedly a significant undertaking for any scheme, even if the benefits are clear. 
Calculation testing can have a big dependency on the in house team.

Wind forward to a modern system with a different approach to onboarding and the cost to transition is a fraction of what was paid previously and the call on the admin team minimised.  

Embracing the future of re-platforming

Don’t let the fear of change hold your scheme back. Explore the possibilities of modern pension management software and take the first step towards a more efficient, cost-effective, and member-focused future. Your administrators—and more importantly, your members—will thank you for it.

For further information on re-platforming and what Mantle can offer,
visit our website www.mantleservices.com or contact us at enquiries@mantleservices.com  

Graeme Riddoch

Chief Revenue Officer

Blog

20 Sep 2024