Another week, another news story about pensions administration.

This time, the focus is on overpayments, though the headlines tell a somewhat different story to the details behind the scenes.

Work on GMP rectification continues across the UK pensions industry with diligent, detailed analysis of historical data, aiming to establish accuracy among member contributions records.

Research can encompass decades worth of data across a wide range of archives, including microfiches (if you don’t know what this means, ask a pensions professional over the age of 50 and they will tell you how record keeping has improved for the better).

With proper investment in data verification, it inevitably comes to light that many people have been over or underpaid throughout the course of their career. Unfortunately, this can trigger a blame game targeted at administrators and past processes.

The truth of the matter is that a common failure across bodies of professionals responsible for correct data, as well as a failure among employers to recognise the importance of data accuracy around contributions and earnings, has led to the current predicament.

While there may well be instances in which incorrect payments have been made, they are generally rare occurrences due to improved, robust checking and control systems among administrators, and pledges to clean up data from sponsors and Trustees.

This newfound mindset is not only in the interest of GMP or de-risking preparation, but also an example of the much-awaited, industry-wide recognition that high-quality, clean data is in fact the bedrock of successful pension schemes.

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