Sweden

Improving information gathering and benefit claim processes to ensure citizen equal treatment

The overall goal for Sveriges a-kassor (the Swedish Unemployment Funds) is to provide services that help administer the unemployment insurance in a cost efficient way, avoiding unnecessary manual handling, securing equal treatment in its member service and minimizing erroneous payments of benefit claims.

Improving information gathering and benefit claim processes to ensure citizen equal treatment

The Swedish Federation of the Unemployment Insurance Funds (Sveriges a-kassor) provides services that help the 27 unemployment funds to administer the unemployment insurance scheme in Sweden. The goals are: facilitating the administration, to be cost efficient, avoid unnecessary manual handling, secure equal treatment in its member service and minimize erroneous payments of benefit claim. To address these goals, Sveriges a-kassor initiated a digital program to help transform the unemployment funds way of servicing its members as well as maintaining its cost efficiency.

"Bedömningsstödet" - The Assessment tool

In 2012, the Swedish government allotted resources for early intervention for a restricted amount of new job-seekers. The requirement was that the Public Employment Service (PES) used a profiling instrument which could objectively select individuals with a high risk of long-term unemployment. Not everyone could come into question and resources should be targeted to those with the highest risk, independent of geographical location. The independence of geographical location entails an important difficulty in allocation of interventions at the local level.

To use positive connotations to get the message across

The general public in Sweden has little interest in the social security system and many times incorrect expectations of how much they will receive in benefits. But at the same time most people are positive about having a general social welfare system. The Swedish Social Insurance Agency’s communication strategy was created to remind the general public of just that and to connect the Agency with those positive feelings by showing how the agency embodies that idea of social security in a modern way.

The rebate model in the Swedish premium pension system

The premium pension system has one of the world's most powerful discount models, giving pension savers the opportunity to save in UCITS-funds with substantially lower fund fees. This gives our pension savers an average 15-20% higher premium pension.

In 2015, the fund companies took out approximately 6.2 billion SEK in fees from our funds' shares. 4.2 billion SEK (67%) was paid back to the Swedish Pensions Agency and will be distributed back to the pension savers.

The Orange Envelope

The extensive mailing of the Orange Envelope, the annual statement regarding the public pension system, to all pension savers, creates during one month a season for pension information.

The Orange Envelope is very well known. It shows the importance of working longer and it is a great platform to make pension savers, either via digital channels or through the Pension Agency's customer service, to get help to understand the full pension and to explain which behaviours lead to a higher or lower pension.

Communication based on life events

We have developed three basic life situations for our customers: Save for retirement, Plan your retirement and Live with your pension. To think and plan for these situations helps us to provide better targeted information to our customers, develop the services they need and want, and also provides a natural starting point for our long-term planning. Our communication is also tailored to target groups within the framework of the respective life situations.

The Message Manual

The Message Manual is a brochure, in both printed and digital format, where the majority, and the most important, of our messages to pensioners and pension savers are expressed in a simple way. The manual is a support for all who have direct customer contact, so we can ensure that our messages are common and uniform. The preparation process of the Message Manual is also an easy and practical way to agree internally on what messages we wish to communicate externally.

The Orange Report

The Orange Report - The Annual Report of the Swedish Pension System - is a means of spreading and presenting information and knowledge about how the Swedish public pension system works and performs.

The Orange Report combines common accounting principles and a specially developed method to be able to present the financial development of a public (and essentially pay-as-you-go financed) pension scheme.

The target groups for this system level information are: government, politicians, policy analysts, media and researchers.