Nest Pension Scheme · CAS-104281-R6Y3

CAS-104281-R6Y3

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Ms P

Scheme NEST Pension Scheme (the Scheme)

Respondent Vermuyden Care Limited (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties

In March 2021, Ms P began her employment with the Employer.

Between 8 December 2021 and 30 November 2023, the Employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Scheme.

On 15 April 2023, Ms P brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Ms P provided the payslips that she held for the period from December 2021 to November 2023, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions. A breakdown of the deductions has been included in the Appendix.

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Ms P provided TPO with a screenshot from her Scheme account. This showed that the Employer paid contributions in May 2023 and July 2023. The outstanding amount following these contributions was £1,278.03.

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 responded to any of TPO’s communications, he had to base his Opinion solely on the information provided by Ms P.

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

 In the Adjudicator’s view, Ms P had suffered serious distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. The Adjudicator was of the opinion that an award of £1,000 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

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Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

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

(ii) ’s

;

(iii) establish with the Scheme whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Ms P’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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Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman

14 August 2024

4 CAS-104281-R6Y3 Appendix Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

December 2021 £59.20 £44.40

January 2022 £59.20 £44.40

February 2022 £59.20 £44.40

March 2022 £59.20 £44.40

April 2022 £59.20 £44.40

May 2022 £59.20 £44.40

June 2022 £59.20 £44.40

July 2022 £59.20 £44.40

August 2022 £59.20 £44.40

September 2022 £30.75 £23.06

October 2022 £55.51 £41.64

November 2022 £46.78 £35.08

December 2022 £25.52 £19.14

January 2023 £10.54 £7.90

February 2023 £4.27 £3.20

March 2023 £4.27 £3.20

April 2023 £13.07 £9.80

May 2023 £13.07 (paid) £9.80 (paid)

June 2023 £6.80 £5.10

July 2023 £6.80 (paid) £5.10 (paid)

October 2023 £0.00 £0.00

November 2023 £0.00 £0.00

Total £730.31 (excluding paid £547.72 (excluding paid amounts) amounts)

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