Nest · CAS-75248-Y1W7

CAS-75248-Y1W7

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr R

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondents Training in Electrical Limited (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary Mr R has complained that the Employer, despite deducting contributions from his pay, has failed to pay these into the Scheme.

Mr R has said that the missing contributions amount to £513.34.

Background

Mr R left employment with the Employer in March 2021. Upon leaving, Mr R received letters from the Scheme administrator informing him that it was going to report the Employer to The Pensions Regulator as it had failed to pay contributions into the Scheme.

On 14 July 2021, Mr R brought his complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Mr R provided copies of the payslips that he held for February and March 2021 which detailed the pension contributions deducted from his pay and the corresponding employer contributions. These contributions amounted to £513.34. A breakdown of the contributions has been included in the Appendix.

On 25 April 2022, TPO wrote to the Employer to ask for more information in response to Mr R’s complaint. This request was repeated on 23 August 2022.

On 29 September 2022 TPO issued its Opinion on the outcome of Mr R’s complaint.

1 CAS-75248-Y1W7 Caseworker’s Opinion

• The Caseworker stated that TPO’s normal approach, in cases such as these, was to seek agreement from all parties on the facts of the complaint, including the dates and amounts of contributions involved.

• The Caseworker said that she had no reason to doubt the information provided by Mr R, so, in the Caseworker’s Opinion, on the balance of probabilities, contributions had been deducted from Mr R’s salary but had not been paid into the Scheme. In addition, the Employer had not paid any of the employer contributions that were due over the same period. As a result of its maladministration, Mr R was not in the financial position he ought to be in.

• In the Caseworker’s view, Mr R had suffered serious distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. The Caseworker was of the opinion that an award of £1,000 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

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Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

(i) pay Mr R £1,000 for the serious distress and inconvenience he has experienced;

(i) pay the missing contributions to the Scheme;

(ii) establish with the Scheme whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Mr R’s Scheme account than he would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time; and

(iii) pay any reasonable administration fee should the Scheme administrator charge a fee for carrying out the above calculation.

Within 14 days of receiving confirmation from the Scheme administrator of any shortfall in Mr R’s units, pay the cost of purchasing any additional units required to make up the shortfall.

Dominic Harris / Anthony Arter CBE

Pensions Ombudsman / Deputy Pensions Ombudsman

29 August 2023 3 CAS-75248-Y1W7

Appendix Date Employee Employer contributions contributions 28 February 2021 £166.67 £110.00 28 March 2021 £126.67 £110.00

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