Nest · CAS-82123-F4Y1

CAS-82123-F4Y1

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr N

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent Town Wall Tavern Ltd (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties In September 2019, Mr N was employed by the Employer and enrolled into the Scheme. He has said that pension contributions were either paid late into the Scheme or not paid at all.

On 10 March 2020, the contributions for September 2019 and October 2019 were paid into the Scheme.

On 16 October 2020, the contributions for November 2019 were paid. This was the last payment the Employer made into the Scheme.

In July 2021, Mr N left his employment with the Employer. CAS-82123-F4Y1

Mr N provided copies of the payslips that he held for the period from 1 September 2019 to 30 June 2021, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from his pay and the corresponding employer contributions. These deductions amounted to £1,268.31. A breakdown of the deductions and the associated employer contributions has been included in the Appendix.

On 26 September 2022, TPO asked the Employer for its response to Mr N’s complaint. This request was repeated on 10 October 2022. However, the Employer failed to respond.

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. She said that, as the Employer had not responded to any of TPO’s communications, she had to base her Opinion solely on the information provided by Mr N.

• The Caseworker said that she had no reason to doubt the information provided by Mr N. So, in the Caseworker’s opinion, on the balance of probabilities, contributions had been deducted from Mr N’s salary, that 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. The Caseworker also noted that it appeared that some of the contributions were paid late. As a result of its maladministration, Mr N was not in the financial position he ought to be in.

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

Ombudsman’s decision CAS-82123-F4Y1

Directions

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

(ii) produce a schedule (the Schedule) showing the employee contributions deducted from Mr N’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 N.

(i) pay the missing contributions into the Scheme;

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

(iii) pay any reasonable administration fee should NEST charge a fee for carrying out the above calculation. CAS-82123-F4Y1

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

Anthony Arter

Pensions Ombudsman 19 December 2022 CAS-82123-F4Y1

Appendix Pay for Employee Employer Date due to be paid Date paid contributions contributions to the Scheme

September 2019 £58.21 £43.66 10 October 2019 10 March 2020

October 2019 £76.11 £57.08 10 November 2019 10 March 2020

November 2019 £76.11 £57.08 10 December 2019 16 October 2020

December 2019 No payslip held No payslip held 10 January 2020 Not paid

January 2020 No payslip held No payslip held 10 February 2020 Not paid

February 2020 No payslip held No payslip held 10 March 2020 Not paid

March 2020 £52.44 £39.33 10 April 2020 Not paid

Total contributions payable to date on March 2020 payslip £420.95 £315.70 Not paid

April 2020 £44.17 £33.12 10 May 2020 Not paid

May 2020 £44.17 £33.12 10 June 2020 Not paid

June 2020 £44.17 £33.12 10 July 2020 Not paid CAS-82123-F4Y1

July 2020 £44.17 £33.12 10 August 2020 Not paid

August 2020 £44.17 £33.12 10 September 2020 Not paid

September 2020 £85.86 £51.52 10 October 2020 Not paid

October 2020 £86.15 £51.69 10 November 2020 Not paid

November 2020 £81.21 £48.73 10 December 2020 Not paid

December 2020 £81.21 £48.73 10 January 2021 Not paid

January 2021 £81.21 £48.73 10 February 2021 Not paid

February 2021 £81.21 £48.73 10 March 2021 Not paid

March 2021 £81.21 £48.73 10 April 2021 Not paid

April 2021 £81.21 £48.73 10 May 2021 Not paid

May 2021 £86.78 £52.07 10 June 2021 Not paid

June 2021 £90.89 £54.53 10 July 2021 Not paid

Total contributions payable to the Scheme £1,478.74 £983.46

Contributions paid to the Scheme (£210.43) (£157.82) Paid

Total contributions outstanding £1,268.31 £825.64 Not paid