Nest · CAS-59875-V8Q1

CAS-59875-V8Q1

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Miss E

Scheme NEST (the Plan)

Respondent Paint Hale Ltd (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties In March 2020, Miss E was employed by the Employer.

On 27 March 2020, Miss E was enrolled into the Plan.

In April 2020, Miss E first discovered contributions were not being paid into the Plan.

In August 2020, Miss E left her employment with the Employer.

On 21 October 2020, Miss E made a formal complaint to the Employer.

On 22 October 2020, Miss E submitted an application to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Miss E provided copies of the payslips that she held for the period from 31 March 2020 to 31 August 2020, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions. These deductions amounted to £302.46. A breakdown of the deductions has been included in the Appendix.

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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 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 Miss E.

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

• In the Caseworker’s view, Miss E had suffered significant distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. The Caseworker was of the view that an award of £500 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

Ombudsman’s decision

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Directions

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

(ii) produce a schedule (the Schedule) showing the employee contributions deducted from Miss 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 Plan; and

(iii) forward the Schedule to Miss E.

(i) pay the missing contributions to the Plan;

(ii) establish with the Plan whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Miss E’s Plan account than she would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time; and

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

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

Anthony Arter

Pensions Ombudsman 2 November 2022

3 CAS-59875-V8Q1 Appendix Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

31/03/2020 £56.01 (Paid) £42.01 (Paid)

30/04/2020 £43.38 £32.53

31/05/2020 £43.38 £32.53

30/06/2020 £43.38 (Paid July 2020) £32.53 (Paid July 2020)

31/07/2020 £41.28 £30.96

31/08/2020 £47.44 £36.58

Unpaid Contributions £175.48 £126.98

Total Unpaid Contributions: £302.46

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