# Benchmarking benefits and reward policy in the UK: the main options

> How UK employers benchmark benefits and reward policy: Brightmine, WTW, Aon, Mercer, CIPD, IDR and lumi compared. What each covers and when to use it.

Source: https://lumihr.co.uk/guides/uk-benefits-benchmarking-options
Author: David Whitfield (https://lumihr.co.uk/about/david-whitfield)
Review by: 4 January 2027

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Most UK employers can find out what the market pays for a job. Far fewer can say with confidence how their pension contribution, holiday entitlement, family leave or medical cover compares with organisations like theirs. This page sets out the main sources for that second question, what each one is good for, and where each one stops.

We run one of the options on this list. We have tried to describe the others as their own publishers describe them, with links so you can check.

## The short answer

- If you want a read on UK benefits practice across the market, start with the published reports from the CIPD and Aon.
- If you already hold a Brightmine subscription, its benefits and allowances surveys are a broad reference set you are already paying for.
- If you are a multinational and need the same method in every country, look at WTW Benefits Data Source.
- If you need detailed design data on one benefit, such as private medical insurance or group life, Mercer sells it by the data point.
- If you want pay and benefits practice in a specific sector, often by named employer, look at IDR.
- If you want to see where your own package sits against a UK peer group, across the whole of reward policy and without touching salary data, that is what lumi is for.

## At a glance

| Source | What it is | Shows your own position against peers? | How you get access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brightmine | Survey series on benefits and allowances inside its HR benchmarking service | No: published survey results, question by question | Subscription |
| WTW Benefits Data Source | Global benefits design database with an online tool | Yes: BenVal measures your plan design against peer organisations, in certain countries | Join the database by submitting your benefits data |
| Aon UK Benefits and Trends Survey | Annual report on employer benefits strategy | No: a market-wide report | Report download from Aon |
| Mercer | UK benefit design reports, standard or bespoke | No: general UK market or industry cuts | Bought per report or per data point |
| CIPD Reward survey | Professional body research on UK employer benefits practice | No: a market-wide report | Report download from the CIPD |
| Incomes Data Research (IDR) | Sector pay and benefits surveys, reports and bespoke research | Partly: much of its data is shown by company name | Reports to buy; free summary for participants |
| lumi | Member community benchmarking UK reward policy and structure | Yes: your answers against a UK peer group, metric by metric | Annual membership; members contribute their own data |

## The options in more detail

### Brightmine (formerly XpertHR)

Brightmine's HR benchmarking service includes a benefits and allowances survey series. It is published in parts covering pensions, health and wellbeing benefits, travel benefits and subsistence, flexible and voluntary benefits, and other allowances such as long-service awards, standby and call-out payments. The 2025 edition is based on responses from 302 organisations; the 2024 edition drew on 470.

**Good for:** a broad reference on how common a benefit is, including operational allowances such as standby and call-out payments.

**Limits:** results are reported question by question for the survey sample. It tells you what the market does more readily than where your whole package sits.

[Brightmine benefits benchmarking](https://hrcentre.uk.brightmine.com/hr-benchmarking/topic/1,72/benefits.aspx)

### WTW Benefits Data Source

WTW describes Benefits Data Source as a worldwide database of benefit programmes, collected in a consistent way across countries. Benefits Online is its web application for viewing market information on HR policies and benefit design practices. In certain countries WTW also offers BenVal, which scores benefit plan design so a package can be measured against peer organisations. The database is rolling: organisations join at any time by completing country questionnaires or submitting plan documents.

**Good for:** multinationals that need one method across many countries.

**Limits:** it is designed around global consistency, and BenVal is available only in certain countries. Taking part means completing WTW's questionnaires.

[WTW Benefits Data Source](https://www.wtwco.com/en-gb/solutions/products/benefits-data-source)

### Aon UK Benefits and Trends Survey

Aon has published this survey since 2010. The 2025 edition draws on more than 240 participants and covers hybrid working and flexible hours, use of AI, online and flexible benefits platforms, health and wellbeing strategy, benefits communication and workplace pensions.

**Good for:** a view of what employers are prioritising, useful for framing a strategy paper.

**Limits:** it reports the market as a whole and does not place your organisation against a peer group. Aon invites readers to contact its consultants to discuss how the results compare with their organisation, and separately lists sector-specific benefits benchmarking surveys.

[Aon UK Benefits and Trends Survey](https://www.aon.com/en-gb/capabilities/health-and-benefits/uk-benefits-and-trends-survey)

### Mercer

Mercer's online shop lists UK Benefit Design Trends reports, drawing on Mercer Marsh Benefits data. They cover benefits across finance, health, protection and lifestyle, from pension contributions and private medical insurance to holiday trading and cycle to work. Reports come as a standard general-market report or as a bespoke report built from the data points you choose, for the general UK market or cut by industry. The shop also lists a UK Benefits Policy and Practices Report covering retirement, insurance and medical benefits, company cars, leave and sick pay, and flexible benefits.

**Good for:** detailed design data on a single benefit, such as PMI excess levels or group life lump sums, bought one question at a time.

**Limits:** the reports describe the market or an industry; they do not take in your own data. Covering the whole of reward policy means buying several, and it is worth checking the edition date of any report before you buy.

[Mercer Benefit Design Trends, United Kingdom](https://shop.mercer.com/employee-benefits-benchmarking-report-uk.html) · [Mercer Benefits Policy and Practices Report, United Kingdom](https://shop.mercer.com/europe/uk-benefit-policies-and-practices-report.html)

### CIPD Reward survey

The CIPD is the professional body for HR and people development. Its Reward survey: Focus on employee benefits 2026 report sets out which benefits UK employers offer, why they provide them, and what they expect to affect their benefits in 2026. Earlier editions of its reward management survey are also on the CIPD site.

**Good for:** an independent, citable view of UK benefits practice.

**Limits:** it is published research, so it cannot show your own position, and the survey's focus changes between editions.

[CIPD Reward survey: Focus on employee benefits 2026](https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/reports/reward-survey-employee-benefits/)

### Incomes Data Research (IDR)

IDR collects information directly from HR teams on pay rises, salary levels, employee benefits and HR policy, and presents much of it by company name. Its research is mainly sector surveys of pay and benefits, for example in aerospace and defence, rail and utilities, alongside off-the-shelf reports and bespoke research. Organisations that take part receive a free summary.

**Good for:** seeing pay and benefits practice in your sector, often by named employer, and commissioning a focused piece of research.

**Limits:** its centre of gravity is pay. Benefits coverage follows the sectors and topics IDR is researching at the time.

[IDR current and upcoming research](https://www.incomesdataresearch.co.uk/current-and-upcoming-research)

### lumi

lumi is a UK-only member community. Each member answers a common question set about its own reward policy and structure, and in return sees how its answers compare with a peer group of other UK organisations. Coverage runs across eight areas: pay policy, governance and transparency, time off and family, incentives and recognition, benefits and lifestyle, health and protection, pensions and savings, and wellbeing. The current count of metrics and contributing organisations is on the [register](/register).

**Good for:** UK employers who want one view of their whole package against organisations like them, kept in one place.

**Limits, stated plainly:**

- lumi does not benchmark base salary levels. That is deliberate. You will need a pay data source alongside it.
- It is UK only.
- It presents where you sit and what the trade-offs are. It does not tell you what to do: we flag, you decide.
- Results appear only where enough organisations have answered; smaller bases are suppressed.
- Members contribute their own data, which takes time at the outset. A guided session for the first submission is optional.

## How to choose

Three questions settle most cases.

1. **Do you need the market's direction, or your own position?** Published reports from the CIPD and Aon answer the first. Only a source that takes in your own data can answer the second.
2. **One topic or the whole package?** For a single decision, such as a PMI renewal, a Mercer benefit design report may be all you need. For a reward strategy review, you need breadth.
3. **UK or global?** WTW applies the same method across countries. lumi, the CIPD, IDR, Brightmine's surveys and Aon's UK survey are UK sources.

Many reward teams use more than one: a free report for context, a pay data source for salaries, and a peer benchmark for policy and benefits.

## Common questions

**Is there a free way to benchmark UK employee benefits?**
Yes, for market-wide practice. The CIPD's Reward survey report and Aon's UK Benefits and Trends Survey are both published online at no charge. Neither will show your own organisation against a peer group.

**What is the difference between pay benchmarking and benefits benchmarking?**
Pay benchmarking compares salary levels for jobs. Benefits and policy benchmarking compares what you provide and on what terms: pension contributions, leave, family policy, health cover, bonus design. They need different data and usually different sources.

**Does lumi include salary data?**
No. lumi covers reward policy and structure only.

## Talk it through

If you would like to see how lumi works and whether it suits your organisation, [book a call](/demo).

*Descriptions of other providers are taken from their own published material, checked on 4 October 2026. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.*