Membership subscriptions review
Subscriptions review: change the fees, keep the members.
How to review and change a subscription structure: the case for change, bands, consultation, the vote, phasing and the letter. Built around a real one — Pensions UK’s 2025 review.
A new fee structure that survives the board, the AGM, consultation, the first invoice
A subscriptions reviewin the order it runs
- 01Casewho pays, who benefits, what changedWHY
- 02Modelbasis, bands, caps and floorsBANDS
- 03Consultmeet the affected, then a formal paperLISTEN
- 04Approveboard, council or a members’ voteGOVERN
- 05Phasesteps over years, transitional rulesTRANSITION
- 06Tellthe letter, the invoice, the reminderNOTICE
Pensions UK’s ranMay to December 2025
01/ the case for change
Why review subscriptions, and when.
A rate review changes the number. A subscriptions review changes the structure: who pays, on what basis, up to what cap. You need one when the membership has changed shape and the fee table has not.
Pensions UK gave three reasons: consolidation into fewer, bigger schemes; fairness, as the largest members got more value; and income, because Business Members funded 60% of its work for Fund Members. The OR Society asked the same question plainly: how much should membership fees contribute to the Society’s income?
It matters because subscriptions are most of the money. They were 52.2% of the average UK professional body’s income in PARN’s benchmarking (2021 data).
Pensions UK work for Fund Members funded by Business Members (Pensions UK, 2025)
Average professional body’s income from subscriptions (PARN, 2021)
Rate review, or a full subscriptions review? · 0/5 answered
01When did you last change the structure, not just the rate?
02Do your largest members hit the same cap as mid-sized ones?
03Has the membership changed shape (mergers, new member types)?
04Does one group of members fund another’s services?
05Are there categories nobody can explain?
Answer all 5 to see your result.
Our rule of thumb, not a benchmark.
02/ subscriptions review scope
What a subscriptions review actually changes.
A review rarely moves one number. Pensions UK’s raised a cap, re-cut bands, merged two memberships into one, created a category and removed another.
Settle the categories before the fees. The Royal College of Anaesthetists is consulting on three category models first and will explore fees afterwards. Over 65% of its 2025 survey respondents supported simplifying. The category question is on membership categories; what each one costs belongs to membership pricing.
Pensions UK, report on consultation, Oct 2025 · sector body’s own report, with its new Rules in Annex 1.
03/ subscription banding
Subscription banding: pick the basis first.
Banding prices capacity to pay. The hard choice is the measure: headcount, turnover, assets or members served. Pick one members can report and you can check.
Pensions UK uses three. Schemes paid 28.87p per scheme member in 2025, between a £380 floor and a cap. Asset managers are banded by UK pension assets; other suppliers by UK pension turnover. Its new master-trust bands climb from £2,500 to £50,000.
Write the evidence rule in too. Its Rules let it assume a band if a member will not supply the data. For organisational members, see corporate membership.
One rate
Simple. Small members overpay, large ones underpay.
SimplestA rate per person
Scales smoothly. Needs a floor and a cap.
Turnover bands
Fits suppliers. Members must report it.
Asset bands
Fits funds and managers. Value moves yearly.
A basis per category
Fairest fit. Hardest to explain.
Pensions UKPensions UK master-trust bands from 2026, by assets
04/ phasing a subscription increase
Phase the increase over three years.
Pensions UK raised its Fund Member cap by about half, from £23,405 to £35,000. It did not land it in one invoice. Rule 33 adds one-third of each member’s increase in 2026, two-thirds in 2027 and the full amount in 2028.
For a member at the cap that is £3,865 a year. Each step is the same in pounds, so it shrinks in percentage terms. Reductions phase the same way for master trusts (Rule 38).
- 2025 £23,405current maximum
- 2026 £27,270one-third of the rise
- 2027 £31,135two-thirds
- 2028 £35,000full new maximum
Our arithmetic on Pensions UK’s Rules 31–33.
05/ subscription phasing calculator
Model your own phasing.
Your current fee, the new fee, the years to get there. The arc shows each year’s step; the tiles show what it raises.
Equal steps in pounds, the Pensions UK method. Compare the first step with inflation: CPI was 3.1% in the 12 months to August 2026 (ONS). Testing the new price before you commit is on price and proposition testing.
Your fee change
Years to phase it in
The fee, year by year, over 3 years
- Now £400
- Yr 1 £467
- Yr 2 £533
- Yr 3 £600
A big first step
Year one moves 16.7%. Add a year, or consult first.
Our arithmetic on your inputs: equal steps in pounds, as in Pensions UK’s Rule 33. No change in renewal is assumed. CPI 3.1%, 12 months to August 2026: ONS. The 10% line is our rule, not a benchmark.
06/ consulting members
Consult members before the vote.
Pensions UK met almost every affected member in May and June 2025, offering time with its CEO. Only then did it send a formal paper to all members. Only five replied. The conversations had already happened.
The concerns were mostly about value: free delegate places, awareness of policy work, conference networking and HR managers. RCoA is using meetings, a feedback form and planned hospital visits for its review.
Survey before you meet: question banks are on member surveys.
Informal meetings with affected members, 2025
- Supportive or relaxed19
- Broadly positive, with questions17
- Neutral6
- Raised concerns7
May–Jun 2025
Informal meetings
Almost all affected members; 36 positive · Pensions UK
23 Jul 2025
Formal paper
Sent to every member · Pensions UK
22 Aug 2025
Consultation closes
Five responses · Pensions UK
Oct 2025
Report and decision
Board goes ahead, with a stronger member offer · Pensions UK
Dec 2025
First invoices
One-third of the rise, for 2026 · Pensions UK
2026
Year one
New categories and bands live
2028
Full new fees
Phasing complete · Pensions UK
07/ governance approval
Who approves the new fees?
It depends on where the fees are written. Answer three questions and see the route.
Fees set by the board under the rules need a board decision. Fees or categories in a company’s articles need a special resolution: at least 75% (Companies Act 2006, s.283), with the text in the notice. A CIO needs 75% of members voting at a general meeting, or every member if voting another way (CC36).
Charities should consult members before they vote. A fee change is rarely a “regulated alteration”: those change purposes, dissolution or benefits to trustees and members. Pensions UK’s Rule 46 lets its Board raise fees by up to inflation without a rule change — worth copying. ARMA’s governance review lists membership rights and AGM decisions in scope. Not legal advice.
Where are your fees written?
Do the rules already allow an index rise?
Charity changing purposes, dissolution or benefits to trustees or members?
Your route
- 01Consult membersBefore any vote
- 02Board proposesNotice includes the full text
- 03Special resolutionAt least 75%
- 04Tell membersLetter before the invoice
A members’ vote
Win the argument in consultation, then call the vote.
Routes from the Companies Act 2006 s.283 and Charity Commission CC36. Your constitution may set a higher bar. Not legal advice.
08/ transitional arrangements
Transitional rules and the letter.
Write the transition into the rules, then tell members before the invoice does.
Pensions UK’s next steps were short: write to affected members with the final changes, the new Rules and a link to the response paper; implement the categories; invoice the first third in December. Members moved out of a removed category kept the same services.
The fee-increase letter itself, with templates, is on membership pricing. Put the new amount in the renewal reminder too: see membership renewals.
01 · Rules
Write the transition in
Who is protected, for how long, by what fraction each year.
02 · Both ways
Phase cuts too
Members whose fee falls should see the same timetable.
03 · Letter
Write to the affected
Old fee, new fee, each year’s step, and why.
04 · Paper
Publish the response
What members said, and what you changed.
05 · Invoice
First step on the bill
The invoice should match the letter.
Transitional rules to write · 0/8 in place
Tick what your draft rules already say.
09/ consumer members
Consumer members: the UK legal frame.
If members are individuals joining mainly outside their trade or profession, they are consumers (CRA 2015, s.2). Then a term letting you raise the price without a right to cancel may be unfair (Schedule 2, para 15). An index clause with the method spelled out is outside that (para 25).
The CMA’s guidance says “upon reasonable notice” alone does not tell a consumer how much, how often and why (4.34). From January 2027, new subscription rules start; reminder notices must show any increase and the difference (DMCC Act 2024, Sch 23). Certain charitable cultural and heritage memberships are excluded. Not legal advice.
Do consumer rules apply to your review?
01Are the members paying individuals, not organisations?
02Do most join mainly outside their trade or profession?
03Are you outside the charitable cultural and heritage exclusion?
Answer the 3 questions to see where you stand.
From CRA 2015, CMA37 and the PM’s Office, 9 Aug 2026. Not legal advice.
10/ questions
Subscriptions review FAQs.
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes on your subscriptions review.
Book 15 minutes to talk through your bands, your consultation plan and the route to approval.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02Your fee structure, read back
- 03Consultation and approval, sequenced
- 04A plain next step
Pick a day that suits · live availability
Book 15 minutes · no obligation
New fees, agreed, and phased in calmly.
A case members recognise, bands they can check, a vote that holds, and steps they can plan for.
12/ sources
Every claim, and where it came from
Every source was read on 8 October 2026. Sector bodies’ own reports and dated sources are labelled.
- Pensions UK — Subscriptions review: report on consultation with members, October 2025 — caps, bands, phasing, consultation, RulesSector body’s own report, UK
- Royal College of Anaesthetists — Reviewing RCoA membership — categories, fees and benefits; three modelsSector body consultation, UK
- The OR Society — Rethinking our membership offer, IOR, May 2023Sector body, UK
- ARMA — Tender invitation: governance review — membership rights, AGM decisionsPublisher’s own tender notice, UK
- PARN with haysmacintyre — Financial Benchmarking for Professional Bodies, launch 2022 — subscriptions 52.2% of incomeSector benchmark, UK, dated
- Office for National Statistics — Consumer price inflation, UK: August 2026National statistics
- legislation.gov.uk — Companies Act 2006, section 283 — special resolutionsStatute
- legislation.gov.uk — Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2 — terms which may be regarded as unfairStatute
- legislation.gov.uk — Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 2 — key definitionsStatute
- legislation.gov.uk — Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Schedule 23 (prospective)Statute
- Charity Commission — Charitable companies: changing your governing document (CC36)Regulator guidance
- Charity Commission — CIOs: changing your governing document (CC36)Regulator guidance
- Competition and Markets Authority — Unfair contract terms guidance (CMA37), 22 July 2026Regulator guidance
- Prime Minister’s Office — Ending rip-off discounts and subscription traps, 9 August 2026Government announcement