The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published a consultation document that proposes the levy should be set for three years from 2008, not annually as at present.
Such a process would provide greater stability for levy payers in regard to both the levy estimate, which is the total amount that the PPF calculates it will need over the next period to pay compensation, and the levy bills for individual pension schemes.
The consultation also sets out plans to calculate each year's levy based on the scheme's position as it was 12 months beforehand. Paul McGlone, principal at Aon Consulting, warns that levies could end up being based on old figures.