Nest Pension Scheme · CAS-114999-M8N4

CAS-114999-M8N4

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs N

Scheme NEST Pension Scheme (the Scheme)

Respondents J&Y Webber Services Ltd T/A Bluebird Care (the Employer)

Outcome £642.23

Complaint summary has complained that the Employer, despite deducting contributions from her pay, has failed to pay them into the Scheme.

has said that the missing contributions amounted to £642.23.

Background information, including submissions from the parties

In January 2020, Mrs N began her employment with the Employer.

Mrs N has said that she was enrolled in a separate pension scheme until March 2021 and all contributions were paid.

On 12 April 2021, Mrs N was enrolled into the Scheme and contributions were paid from 13 May 2021.

Between March 2022 and January 2024, the Employer failed to pay all pension contributions to the Scheme, or when they were paid, they were significantly late.

On 15 May 2023, Mrs N complained to the Employer that contributions were not being paid to the Scheme and that she was suffering an accumulated loss. 1 CAS-114999-M8N4 On 12 February 2024, Mrs N brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Mrs N provided copies of the payslips that she held for the period from March 2022 to January 2024, which detailed pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions.

Mrs N provided TPO with a breakdown of payments made into the Scheme since March 2022. This showed they were consistently paid late and that some were still outstanding.

On 29 May 2024, the Employer made four payments into the Scheme, which were the unpaid pension contributions for January 2023 to April 2023.

The pension contributions outstanding for Mrs N for the period May 2023 to September 2023, November 2023, and January 2024 amounted to £275.24 in employer contributions and £366.99 in employee contributions, a total of £642.23. A breakdown of these deductions has been included in the Appendix.

On 5 June 2024, TPO wrote to the Employer asking for its formal response to Mrs N’s complaint about the remaining unpaid pension contributions. No response was received.

On 11 July 2024, TPO wrote again to the Employer’s address. But the Employer failed to respond by the deadline.

Adjudicator’s Opinion

• The Adjudicator 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 dates and amounts of contributions involved. He said that, as the Employer had not engaged with TPO’s communications, he had to base his Opinion solely on the information provided by Mrs N.

• The Adjudicator said that he had no reason to doubt the information provided by Mrs N. So, in the Adjudicator’s Opinion, on the balance of probabilities, contributions had been deducted from Mrs N’s salary but had not all been paid into the Scheme. In addition, the Employer had not paid all the employer contributions that were due over the same period. As a result of its maladministration, Mrs N was not in the financial position she ought to be in.

• In the Adjudicator’s view, Mrs N had suffered serious distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. The Adjudicator was of the opinion that

2 CAS-114999-M8N4 an award of £1,000 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

Ombudsman’s decision

Mrs N is entitled to a distress and inconvenience award in respect of the serious ongoing non-financial injustice which she has suffered. This was exacerbated by its failure to resolve the dispute during TPO’s investigation into Mrs N’s complaint

Directions

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

(ii) £642.23 Mrs N’s Mrs N

;

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

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

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Mrs N’s

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman

25 September 2024

4 CAS-114999-M8N4 Appendix

Month Employer Employee Date paid to Monthly total contributions contribution Scheme not paid to Scheme March 2022 £28.40 £37.87 29/06/2022

April 2022 £28.40 £37.87 15/08/2022

May 2022 £28.40 £37.87 12/09/2022

June 2022 £28.40 £37.87 28/11/2022

July 2022 £28.40 £37.87 13/07/2023

August 2022 £45.80 £60.53 25/08/2023

September 2022 £36.90 £49.20 05/01/2024

October 2022 £36.90 £49.20 05/01/2024

November 2022 £40.65 £54.20 29/05/2023

December 2022 £40.65 £54.20 07/02/2024

January 2023 £40.65 £54.20 29/05/2024

February 2023 £40.65 £54.20 29/05/2024

March 2023 £40.65 £54.20 29/05/2024

April 2023 £40.65 £54.20 29/05/2024

May 2023 £40.65 £54.20 Not paid £94.85

June 2023 £40.65 £54.20 Not paid £94.85

July 2023 £40.65 £54.20 Not paid £94.85

August 2023 £40.65 £54.20 Not paid £94.85

September 2023 £49.34 £65.79 Not paid £115.13

October 2023 £45.65 £60.87 04/01/2024

November 2023 £47.45 £63.27 Not paid £110.72

December 2023 £46.10 £61.47 31/01/2024

January 2024 £15.85 £21.13 Not paid £36.98

Total £642.23 contributions unpaid

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