Articles - Don’t get wound up by data - get your data ready for wind-up

 

Common challenges include missing data not needed for business as usual (BAU) administration but essential for insurers (like contingent spouses' pensions), benefit rectification projects being identified, and overlapping projects competing for time and budget. Start early, sequence smartly, and you'll avoid bottlenecks and additional costs later.

With increasing demands on administration teams, many are feeling stretched. Consider making use of a data specialist to work alongside the BAU administration team to get the job done without disruption to core member services.

 

Setting aside the trustees' fundamental duty to pay the right pension to the right person at the right time, having present and accurate data can also:

 

Lead with strategy. Map key data tasks, define dependencies, and sequence work logically. Bring in specialist expertise where needed - this helps prioritise effectively and avoids last-minute firefighting or an inefficient piecemeal approach. Don't rely solely on your busy BAU administration team: using dedicated project resources allows workstreams to run in parallel, cutting delays and improving outcomes.

 

Having a single party responsible for overall oversight can ensure tasks are properly coordinated, overlaps are identified, issues are communicated, and dependencies are managed in the correct order. An experienced buyout transition specialist in this role can help to reduce residual risks.

 

Problems often surface when the benefit specification is prepared for a transaction. Getting ahead of these issues with an early benefit audit and legal review of a scheme's rules can be invaluable. Do it early and you can build the benefit specification alongside this work so it's ready to go when you need it, with no unwanted surprises.

 

Where rectification is required, trustees should balance accuracy, proportionality and member impact, with clear input from their actuarial and legal advisers. Addressing overpayments early can help to minimise disruption for members and mitigate the financial impact on the scheme, especially where recovery proves challenging.

 

Common data issues include incorrect pension increases, overlooked underpins and unclosed Barber windows. It's also common for such issues to be uncovered alongside Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) and other data rectification projects, complicating the implications for members and increasing pressure on teams working through the changes. By planning upfront, overlapping changes can be considered together to reduce disruption and allow a single, clear member communication covering all issues.

 

It's very common for administration systems not to hold contingent spouse pension (CSP) data. Insurers will, however, always ask for it and expect it to be calculated and provided to them. Pensions Administration Standards Association's April 2026 guidance is clear: calculate it early and store the data on member records.

 

Bulk CSP calculations aren't always straightforward. They often intersect with GMP and other benefit corrections, so sequencing is critical to avoid rework. Manual methods can be slow, resource intensive and expensive. A better approach combines digitisation and purpose-built calculation tools supported by clearly documented trustee decisions, delivering robust, auditable results. When supporting schemes through these exercises, our process has helped to reduce insurer premiums (in one case by over £10m) and solve complex data gaps within post-buy-in data cleaning windows.

 

You only get one shot at winding-up a pension scheme - so get it right. Watch for:

 

The smoothest wind-ups consider data early, plan end-to-end, and run workstreams in parallel using the right mix of resources. Get a hold of your data and you control the process - not the other way round. WTW has supported schemes of all sizes through wind-up. Our buyout transition experts and Data Solutions team have deep experience in all areas of scheme wind-ups and can provide trustees and scheme sponsors with support throughout the whole wind-up journey.