Beat the insurer triage: How to get your scheme prioritised in insurer triage processes over 2025 and beyond

With record demand for insurance, schemes need to be prepared to stand out and ‘beat the insurer triage’.

Demand for bulk annuities from UK DB pension schemes remains strong, with LCP projecting up to £550bn of buy-ins over the next decade.

Despite expanding insurer capacity, schemes will need to continue to work hard to make themselves attractive and ‘beat the insurer triage’ to secure a buy-in/out quotation.

How to get your DB scheme prioritised in insurer triage processes

Mention triage and it traditionally conjures up visions of doctors prioritising emergencies in a hospital. But triage processes are also front and centre in the bulk annuity (buy-in/out) market, where ‘triage’ refers to insurers ranking quotation requests received from pension schemes and deciding which to provide pricing and terms for.

As our 2025 pension risk transfer report illustrates, demand for bulk annuities remains strong and schemes will need to continue to work hard to make themselves attractive and ‘beat the insurer triage’, thereby securing capacity from insurer pricing/origination teams to provide a buy-in/out quotation. Similar comments apply to schemes seeking a DB superfund transfer.

Read our latest update, find out what really matters to the insurers and the key preparation steps to take when approaching the market.

What's inside

• What the insurers say really matters when triaging new transaction opportunities
• What a well-prepared scheme looks like
• Three insurer triage questions and practical hints and tips for answering them