Nest · CAS-78772-M3Q1

CAS-78772-M3Q1

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs E

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent Book In Style Ltd (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Mrs E has said that the missing contributions amounted to £1,493.78 in employee contributions. Employer contributions were also due to the Scheme however these are not shown on Mrs E’s payslips. It is therefore unclear what contributions the Employer owes to the Scheme.

Background information, including submissions from the parties In January 2020, Mrs E began her employment with the Employer.

On 27 July 2020, Mrs E emailed the Employer to check her wages as there had been no pensions deductions. On 31 July 2020 she queried her payslip as £82.98 had been deducted for pensions rather than £45.86.

On 1 August 2020, the Employer clarified that the NEST deductions should be 5% of pay and it looked as though only 1% was being deducted. The employer said this was being investigated by its accountant.

On 19 November 2020, Mrs E says she first became aware of the issue that contributions were not being paid into the Scheme. On 20 November 2020, Mrs E received an email from the Employer saying it was currently in the process of merging

1 CAS-78772-M3Q1 the World Travel Lounge Ltd and Book in Style Ltd pensions schemes. The Employer confirmed that the contributions already made were safe.

On 10 May 2021, Mrs E again raised the issue of the unpaid pension contributions as it was her last day of employment with the Employer.

Between 15 January 2021 and 15 October 2021, Mrs E received several letters from the Scheme reporting Book in Style Ltd to the Pensions Regulator (TPR) for unpaid contributions.

On 2 October 2021, Mrs E sent a final email to the Employer requesting an update on the pension contributions, and also, on the same day, she made an application to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Mrs E provided copies of the payslips that she held for the period from January 2020 to June 2021, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions. These deductions amounted to £1,493.78. A breakdown of the deductions has been included in the Appendix.

Employer contributions are also due to the Scheme by the Employer. The payslips provided do not show what employer contributions were due, therefore the amount of employer contributions owing is unclear.

Adjudicator’s Opinion

• The Adjudicator stated that TPO’s normal approach, in cases such as these, was to seek agreement from all parties as to the facts of the case, including the dates and amounts of contributions involved. He said that, as the Employer had not responded to any of TPO’s communications, he had to base his Opinion solely on the information provided by Mrs E.

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

• In the Adjudicator’s view, Mrs E had suffered significant distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. The Adjudicator was of

2 CAS-78772-M3Q1 the view that an award of £500 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

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

(ii) produce a schedule (the Schedule) showing the employee contributions deducted from Mrs E’s pay in respect of the period of her employment. The Schedule shall also include the corresponding employer contributions that were due to the Scheme; and

(iii) forward the Schedule to Mrs E.

(i) pay the missing contributions to the Scheme;

3 CAS-78772-M3Q1 (ii) establish with NEST whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Mrs E‘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.

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

Anthony Arter

Pensions Ombudsman 28 September 2022

4 CAS-78772-M3Q1 Appendix Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

31/01/2020 £82.59 £61.94 (paid)

29/02/2020 £62.85 £47.14 (paid)

31/03/2020 £46.18 £34.64 (paid)

30/04/2020 £45.86 £34.40 (paid)

31/05/2020 £45.86 £34.30 (paid)

30/06/2020 £45.86 £34.40 (paid)

21/07/2020 £82.98 Unknown

31/08/2020 £106.09 Unknown

30/09/2020 £78.17 Unknown

31/10/2020 £104.17 Unknown

30/11/2020 £104.17 Unknown

31/12/2020 £104.17 Unknown

31/01/2021 £104.17 Unknown

28/02/2021 £104.17 Unknown

31/03/2021 £104.17 Unknown

30/04/2021 £106.78 Unknown

31/05/2021 £30.51 Unknown

30/06/2021 £135.03 Unknown

Total unpaid employee £1,493.78 contributions

Total unpaid employer Unknown contributions

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