Nest · CAS-90663-D1D8

CAS-90663-D1D8

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Ms R

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent SRG Contractors (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties In February 2021, Ms R began her employment with the Employer.

Ms R has confirmed that, for 18 months, the Employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Scheme.

On 10 July 2022, Ms R brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Ms R provided copies of some of the payslips that she held for the period from February 2021 to January 2022, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions. Ms R has said that these deductions amounted to £2,218.09. A breakdown of the deductions, from the available payslips, has been included in the Appendix.

Ms R also provided copies of letters she received from the Scheme administrator that confirmed pension contributions were not being paid into her account.

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On 31 August 2022, the Scheme administrator wrote to Ms R and confirmed that her Scheme account was empty. As a result, it said it would close her account.

Caseworker’s Opinion

• The Caseworker said 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. She said that, although the Employer had engaged with TPO, it had not agreed an action plan to address the points raised by Ms R.

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

• In the Caseworker’s view, Ms 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 non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

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Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

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

(ii) produce a schedule (the Schedule) showing the employee contributions deducted from Ms R’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 Ms R.

(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 Ms R’s Scheme account than she 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.

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

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman 26 April 2023

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Appendix

Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

20/02/21 to 26/02/2021 £34.38 £20.63

13/03/2021 to 19/03/2021 £34.38 £20.63

10/04/2021 to 16/04/2021 £33.10 £19.86

03/07/2021 to 09/07/2021 £34.38 £20.63

01/01/2022 to 07/01/2022 £28.00 £16.80

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