Smart Pension · CAS-69896-Z6N3

CAS-69896-Z6N3

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr Y

Scheme Smart Pension (the Scheme)

Respondent Harcourt Garage Ltd (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties

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On 29 April 2022, TPO contacted the Employer and requested that the missing payments be made.

On 16 May 2022, TPO chased the Employer for a response and set a final deadline of 30 May 2022. TPO received no response.

Caseworker’s Opinion

• The Caseworker 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 the Employer had not provided a response to the complaint brought by Mr Y and had not responded to any of TPO’s communications. Mr Y has said that the missing contributions are estimated to be £4,233. Although limited in number, Mr Y has provided several payslips and they show that, for the period between April and September 2019, the average monthly pension contribution should have been around £190.

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

• In the Caseworker’s view, Mr Y 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.

The Employer did not respond to the Caseworker’s Opinion and the complaint was passed to me to consider. I agree with the Caseworker’s Opinion, except the level of award for maladministration.

2 CAS-69896-Z6N3 Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

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

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

(iii) forward the Schedule to Mr Y.

(i) pay the missing contributions to the Scheme;

(ii) establish with Smart Pension whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Mr Y’s Scheme account than he would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time; and

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

3 CAS-69896-Z6N3 Within 14 days of receiving confirmation from Smart Pension of any shortfall in Mr Y’s units, pay the cost of purchasing any additional units required to make up that shortfall.

Anthony Arter

Pensions Ombudsman 12 September 2022

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