Pensions - Articles - Andy Cheseldine of LCP comments on autoenrolment costs

 Employers should be able to calculate contribution costs relatively easily, says Andrew Cheseldine, principal and defined contribution (DC) specialist at Lane Clark & Peacock. "We have a model that can do it. [Employers] put in details of qualifying employees' earnings, according to the bands and the costs of contributions, and the system spits out the results. The important variable is how many people will opt out."
 Cheseldine adds: "We auto-enrolled about 10,000 employees for [an organisation] in the financial services sector recently and got 88% take-up. I think a figure of about 80% staying in a scheme will apply across the board. Costs will also depend on the type of scheme, for example whether it is trust-based, or uses salary sacrifice. Very small employers will use the national employment savings trust (NEST)."