Collegia Pension Scheme · CAS-112253-M4Q5

CAS-112253-M4Q5

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr R

Scheme Collegia Pension Scheme (the Scheme)

Respondent Stein Electrical & Mechanical Solutions Limited (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties The sequence of events is not in dispute, so I have only set out the salient points.

Mr R was initially enrolled by the Employer into a pension scheme with NEST. The Employer deducted contributions from Mr R’s pay which were remitted to this pension scheme

On 5 June 2023, Mr R was informed by NEST that the Employer was no longer paying contributions into this scheme and the last payment it received was on 31 May 2023.

In June 2023, Mr R contacted the Employer. He said that he was aware that contributions were no longer being paid to NEST, but they were still being deducted from his wages. Therefore, he wanted to know what was happening with his pension contributions.

1 Stein Electrical & Mechanical Solutions Ltd CAS-112253-M4Q5 On 8 June 2023, the Employer replied to Mr R. It confirmed that it was using a new pension provider which was Collegia Pensions (Collegia). It said that there was a slight delay between setting up the Scheme and the direct debit going through. It assured him that the contributions would be paid into the Scheme.

Throughout June and July 2023, Mr R continued to chase the Employer regarding his pension contributions to ensure they were paid into the Scheme.

On 4 July 2023, the Employer responded. It assured Mr R that the situation was being dealt with and it would update him as soon as it was resolved.

On 6 August 2023, Mr R received an email from Collegia. It confirmed that it was his new pension provider and Mr R had been enrolled into the Scheme.

Between August and October 2023, the Employer deducted contributions from Mr R’s wages, but he received no confirmation that these contributions were being remitted to the Scheme. Mr R contacted the Employer on numerous occasions to ask it to pay these contributions into the Scheme. Mr R also contacted Collegia who said that it expected the Employer to pay the outstanding contributions into the Scheme. However, the contributions remained unpaid.

On 19 September 2023, Collegia responded to Mr R and advised him that it was going to collect the contributions from the Employer on 20 September 2023, as the direct debit had been scheduled for the monies to be taken.

Between September and October 2023, Mr R continued to chase the Employer and Collegia to find out what was happening with his pension contributions.

On 3 October 2023, Collegia responded to Mr R. It told him that the Employer advised it that it would make the payment for the outstanding contributions by the end of that week. Collegia said to Mr R that it believed this time the Employer would pay the contributions.

On 6 October 2023, Collegia responded to a further message from Mr R asking it for updates. It advised Mr R that the Employer said that it would send Collegia the contributions and outstanding data at the beginning of the following week. Collegia advised Mr R that it had informed the Employer that this was its last warning otherwise it would report the Employer to The Pensions Regulator (TPR).

On 11 October 2023, Mr R checked the Scheme account. He could not see that any contributions were paid into the Scheme. Mr R submitted a complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

On 30 October 2023, Collegia emailed Mr R. It confirmed that the Employer had not been sending pension contributions since 26 July 2023, despite the fact that it had contacted the Employer on numerous occasions to chase the unpaid contributions. As a result, Collegia said that it had reported the Employer to TPR.

2 CAS-112253-M4Q5 In November 2023, Mr R wrote a formal complaint to the Employer regarding his unpaid contributions.

On 11 January 2024, Mr R contacted TPO and said that he had not received any response from the Employer and his pension contributions remained unpaid.

On 11 March 2024, Mr R opted to leave the Scheme as there were outstanding contributions which had not been paid by the Employer. Mr R did not trust the Employer’s assurances that it would pay the outstanding contributions. The last date that contributions were deducted from Mr R’s wages was 10 March 2024.

On 24 March 2024, there was a number of exchanges between Mr R and the Employer.

Mr R again complained that contributions had been deducted from his wages but not remitted to the Scheme, and that this issue remained outstanding.

The Employer responded by email. In summary it said: -

• The previous management company were responsible for the mess which had occurred with the unpaid contributions.

• It had been liaising with Collegia to resolve the issue of the unpaid contributions and would be entering into an agreement with it to ensure the unpaid contributions were paid over the next few months.

• All contributions would be paid into the Scheme.

Mr R responded and said that he had waited long enough for his contributions to be paid.

The Employer replied and said that it was waiting to receive money and reiterated that it would pay the outstanding unpaid contributions.

On 3 May 2024, TPO contacted the Employer regarding Mr R’s complaint. It asked the Employer to respond by 17 May 2024.

On 16 May 2024, TPO chased the Employer for its response to Mr R’s complaint.

On 16 May 2024, the Employer responded and asked TPO to schedule a call for the following week. This was agreed and scheduled for 22 May 2024.

On 21 May 2024, TPO asked the Employer for a number on which to contact it. The Employer responded and said that 23 May 2024, would be a more suitable date to receive a call from TPO. It did not provide a contact number.

On 22 May 2024, TPO asked the Employer to confirm the best time to contact it the following day. The Employer did not respond.

3 CAS-112253-M4Q5 On 23 May 2024, TPO contacted the Employer to ask if it was available the following day or alternatively, it could respond via email to Mr R’s complaint. The Employer did not respond.

On 28 May 2024, TPO contacted the Employer to give it a final opportunity to provide its response by 7 June 2024. The Employer did not respond.

On 31 May 2024, Mr R ceased working for the Employer.

• It was trying its best to repay the contributions, however it was experiencing a cashflow issue because a client had not paid £915,000 which was causing serious issues.

• Its intention was to ensure that all employee’s contributions were met.

Collegia confirmed that it received ten payments from the Employer between 29 May 2023 to 13 August 2023, and these payments were remitted to the Scheme. Collegia said that it had not received any contributions into the Scheme after the 13 August 2023.

Adjudicator’s Opinion

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Ombudsman’s decision

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Directions

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

(ii) Mr R’s Mr R

;

(iii) establish with the Collegia 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

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

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

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman 9 September 2024

6 CAS-112253-M4Q5 Appendix Employee Employer Week (2023) Contributions Contributions Paid 14/08 - 20/08 42.35 25.41 No 21/08 - 27/08 35.69 21.41 No 28/08 - 03/09 42.35 25.41 No 04/09 - 10/09 35.69 21.41 No 11/09 - 17/09 42.35 25.41 No 18/09 - 24/09 35.69 21.41 No 25/09 - 01/10 35.69 21.41 No 02/10 - 08/10 35.69 21.41 No 09/10 - 15/10 35.69 21.41 No 16/10 - 22/10 35.69 21.41 No 23/10 - 29/10 35.69 21.41 No 30/10 - 05/11 42.35 25.41 No 06/11 - 12/11 42.35 25.41 No 13/11 - 19/11 42.35 25.41 No 20/11 - 26/11 42.35 25.41 No 27/11 - 03/12 42.35 25.41 No 04/12 - 10/12 42.35 25.41 No 11/12 - 17/12 35.69 21.42 No 18/12 - 24/12 35.69 21.42 No 25/12 - 30/12 35.69 21.42 No 31/12 - 06/01 25.51 19.14 No 01/01 - 07/01 35.69 21.42 No 08/01 - 14/01 42.35 25.41 No 15/01 - 21/01 42.35 25.41 No 22/01 - 28/01 42.35 25.41 No 29/01 - 04/02 42.35 25.41 No 05/02 - 11/02 42.35 25.41 No 12/02 - 18/02 42.35 25.41 No 19/02 - 25/02 42.35 25.41 No 26/02 - 03/03 42.35 25.41 No 04/03 - 10/03 42.35 25.41 No 11/03 - 17/03 0 0 N/A 18/03 - 24/03 0 0 N/A 25/03 - 31/03 0 0 N/A Total (unpaid) 1216.09 733.48 1949.57

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