Nest · CAS-78030-V1F5

CAS-78030-V1F5

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr N

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent Data Acquisition & Testing Services Limited (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties Between October 2019 and June 2021, the Employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Scheme.

In October 2021, Mr N brought his complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Mr N provided copies of the payslips that he held for the duration of his employment, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from his pay and the corresponding employer contributions.

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Caseworker’s Opinion

• The Caseworker said that, as the Employer had stopped responding to of TPO’s communications, she had to base her Opinion on the information provided by Mr N.

• The Caseworker said that she had no reason to doubt the information provided by Mr N. The Employer also agreed that contributions had been paid late. So, it was clear that contributions had been deducted from Mr N’s salary, but had not been paid into the Scheme on time.

• 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 N was not in the financial position he ought to be in.

• The Caseworker was satisfied that employee and employer contributions had now been remitted to the Scheme. However, the Employer failed to make good any potential financial loss caused by the length of time the contributions were not invested.

• In the Caseworker’s view, Mr N had suffered significant distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. The Caseworker was of the opinion that an award of £500 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

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Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

(i) pay Mr N £500 for the significant distress and inconvenience he has experienced;

(ii) establish with the Scheme whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Mr N’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.

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman 02 November 2023

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