Nest · CAS-86135-X4W1

CAS-86135-X4W1

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs T

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent Martin Support Services Ltd (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties On 17 January 2017, Mrs T was enrolled into the Scheme.

Between 17 January 2017 and 31 December 2021, the Employer deducted contributions from Mrs T’s pay.

From April 2020, the Employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Scheme.

1 CAS-86135-X4W1 On 27 March 2022, Mrs T brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Mrs T provided copies of some of the payslips that she held for the period from June 2020 to December 2021, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions. These deductions amounted to £754.84. A breakdown of the deductions has been included in the Appendix.

In May 2022, Mrs T left the employment of the Employer.

On 13 September 2022, Mrs T contacted the Employer and asked for copies of her payslips for April 2020 to July 2020. She also asked why her contributions ceased to be deducted from her pay from 1 January 2022.

On 14 September 2022, the Employer responded stating, “I will need to get these from our archiving, however, I’m extremely busy at the moment out on shift. I will search for them at the earliest convenience. Regarding the pension whilst you were on maternity, your SMP was not enough to be taking pension payments out of.”.

On 11 October 2022, TPO contacted the Employer to chase copies of Mrs T’s payslips.

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

2 CAS-86135-X4W1 dates and amounts of contributions involved. She said that, as the Employer had not fully responded to any of TPO’s communications, she had to base her Opinion solely on the information provided by Mrs T.

• The Caseworker said that she had no reason to doubt the information provided by Mrs T. So, in the Caseworker’s opinion, on the balance of probabilities, contributions had been deducted from Mrs T’s salary, that 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, Mrs T was not in the financial position she ought to be in.

• In the Caseworker’s view, Mrs T 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.

Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

(i) pay Mrs T £1,000 for the serious distress and inconvenience she has experienced;

(ii) produce a schedule (the Schedule) showing the employee contributions deducted from Mrs T’s pay in respect of the period of her employment. The

3 CAS-86135-X4W1 Schedule shall also include the corresponding employer contributions that were due to the Scheme; and

(iii) forward the Schedule to Mrs T.

(i) pay the missing contributions into the Scheme;

(ii) establish with the Scheme administrator, NEST, whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Mrs T‘s Scheme account than she would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time; and

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

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman 30 January 2023

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Appendix Pay for Employee Employer contributions contributions

1 June 2020 to 30 June 2020 £47.46 £35.60

1 July 2020 to 31 July 2020 £49.01 £36.76

1 August 2020 to 31 August 2020 £47.41 £35.56

1 September 2020 to 30 September 2020 £47.48 £35.61

1 October 2020 to 31 October 2020 £0.00 £36.76

1 November 2020 to 30 November 2020 £48.21 £36.16

1 December 2020 to 31 December 2020 £50.88 £38.16

1 January 2021 to 31 January 2021 £52.48 £39.36

1 February 2021 to 28 February 2021 £52.88 £39.66

1 March 2021 to 31 March 2021 £50.14 £37.61

1 April 2021 to 30 April 2021 £52.48 £39.36

1 May 2021 to 31 May 2021 £52.48 £39.36

1 June 2021 to 30 June 2021 £52.88 £39.66

1 July 2021 to 31 July 2021 £50.54 £37.91

1 August 2021 to 31 August 2021 £44.76 £37.91

1 September 2021 to 30 September 2021 £39.11 £37.91

1 October 2021 to 31 October 2021 £3.52 £37.91

1 November 2021 to 30 November 2021 £9.60 £37.91

1 December 2021 to 31 December 2021 £3.52 £37.91

1 January 2022 to 31 January 2022 £0.00 £0.00

1 February 2022 to 28 February 2022 £0.00 £0.00

1 March 2022 to 31 March 2022 £0.00 £0.00

1 April 2022 to 30 April 2022 £0.00 £0.00

5 CAS-86135-X4W1 1 May 2022 to 31 May 2022 £0.00 £0.00

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