Nest Pension Scheme · CAS-110509-V6K1

CAS-110509-V6K1

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs H

Scheme NEST Pension Scheme (the Scheme)

Respondents Quality Villas Ltd (the Employer)

Outcome

£1,910.75

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

The available evidence shows that the missing contributions amounted to £1,910.75. This consists of £686.96 in employee contributions and £1,223.79 in employer contributions.

Background information, including submissions from the parties The sequence of events is not in dispute, so I have only set out the salient points.

In March 2014, Mrs H began her employment with the Employer.

Mrs H was enrolled in the Scheme in November 2016.

On 15 May 2023, Mrs H complained to the Employer that it had not paid contributions into the Scheme.

On 1 June 2023, Mrs H ceased employment with the Employer.

On 6 June 2023, Mrs H complained again to the Employer that contributions had not been paid into the Scheme.

1 CAS-110509-V6K1 On 29 August 2023, Mrs H brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Mrs H said that between November 2021 and May 2023 the Employer failed to pay employee and employer contributions into the Scheme.

Mrs H was able to provide TPO with copies of the payslips she held for the period November 2021 to December 2022. This is shown in Appendix One. The information from Mrs H’s payslips showed the following:-

• The employee pension contributions deducted from her monthly pay between November 2021 and June 2022.

• No employee pension contributions were deducted between July 2022 and December 2022.

Mrs H was unable to provide payslips to TPO for the period January 2023 to May 2023 as they had not been provided to her by the Employer. Instead, Mrs H provided TPO with copies of her bank statements to show her net pay from January 2023 to April 2023. For May 2023, Mrs H provided evidence from an Employment Tribunal judgment which showed that she was awarded a gross figure of £2,666.67 for pay she had claimed. This is shown in Appendix Two.

Mrs H provided TPO with a copy record from the Scheme administrator which showed that no pension contributions were received from the Employer between November 2021 and May 2023. The record also showed that between August 2022 and May 2023, Mrs H made her own monthly employee contribution payments of £85 directly into the Scheme.

On 17 May 2024, TPO sent an email to the Employer requesting its formal response to Mrs H’s complaint.

On 4 June 2024, TPO contacted the Employer’s email address again, but it failed to respond to the deadline given.

On 5 July 2024, TPO used an alternative email address to contact the Employer, but it failed to respond again.

On 7 August 2024, TPO issued a letter to the Employer’s correspondence address recorded with Companies House. No response was received.

Adjudicator’s Opinion

2 CAS-110509-V6K1 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 for it to provide a detailed response, he had to base his Opinion solely on the information provided by Mrs H.

The Adjudicator set out his Opinion and noted that: -

• Between November 2021 and June 2022 Mrs H’s payslips showed a monthly salary of £2,666.67 and the employer’s pension contribution year-to-date figure had increased each month by £64.41. This has been set out in Appendix One.

• Between July 2022 and December 2022, Mrs H’s monthly pay remained at £2,666.67. Her pay met the pension qualifying earnings threshold however the payslips showed no employer contributions. The Adjudicator was of the view that on a balance of probabilities employer contributions for this period would have been £64.41 per month in line with the employer’s contribution paid between November 2021 and June 2022.

24. The Adjudicator also set out under Appendix One the employee monthly contributions on Mrs H’s payslips between November 2021 and December 2022. This showed: -

Employee contributions deducted from her pay between November 2021 and June 2022 which were not paid into the Scheme.

No employee deductions were made from Mrs H’s pay between July 2022 and December 2022.

Between August 2022 and December 2022 Mrs H made her own monthly employee contributions of £85 directly into the Scheme.

Mrs H made her own monthly employee contributions of £85 directly into the Scheme between January 2023 and May 2023.

• The net pay to Mrs H’s bank account in this period generally mirrored those received in the previous six months between July 2022 to December 2022. So, on the balance of probabilities, it was the Adjudicator’s view that for each month from January 2023 to April 2023 the employee contributions were £85, and the employer contributions were £64.41.

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The Adjudicator was of the view that based on the information provided by Mrs H, £686.96 in employee contributions and £1,159.38 in employer contributions had not been remitted to the Scheme between November 2021 and May 2023. As no employee deduction was made from Mrs H’s pay in July 2022 that month was excluded from the overall total of £1,846.34 of outstanding pension contributions shown on Appendix One. He said that should Mrs H make a payment into the Scheme for July 2022 then the Employer should make its corresponding pension contribution.

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

In the Adjudicator’s view, Mrs H 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.

Ombudsman’s decision Mrs H has complained that the Employer has not paid all the contributions due to her Scheme account.

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Directions

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

(ii) pay £1910.75 into Mrs H’s Scheme account (the unpaid Employee and Employer Contributions). This figure consists of £686.96 in employee contributions already deducted and £1,223.79, being £1,159.38 in employer contributions the Adjudicator referred to and a further £64.41 that the Employer did not pay for July 2022;

(iii) establish with the Scheme administrator whether the late payment of contributions the unpaid Employer and Employee Contributions, and the July 2022 Unpaid Employer Contribution has meant that fewer units were purchased in Mrs H’s Scheme account than she would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time;

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

(v) w Mrs H’s

(vi) in the event that (iii) and (iv) are not complied with, and the Scheme administrator is able to confirm fewer units were purchased in the Scheme than Mrs H would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time, then the Employer shall pay the outstanding sum in accordance with (v) above upon confirmation of the shortfall amount together with any reasonable administration 5 CAS-110509-V6K1 fee should the Scheme administrator charge a fee for carrying out the above calculation.

Camilla Barry

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman

19 June 2025

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Appendix One Date of Gross Net pay Employee Employer Employer Mrs H’s payslip pay paid pension contribution payment direct deduction required into payment to Scheme Scheme

26/11/2021 £2666.67 £2032.64 £85.87 £64.41 £0 xx

31/12/2021 £2666.67 £2032.84 £85.87 £64.41 £0 xx

28/01/2022 £2666.67 £2032.64 £85.87 £64.41 £0 xx

25/02/2022 £2666.67 £2032.84 £85.87 £64.41 £0 xx

25/03/2022 £2666.67 £2032.84 £85.87 £64.41 £0 xx

30/04/2022 £2666.67 £2012.91 £85.87 £64.41 £0 xx

28/05/2022 £2666.67 £2012.91 £85.87 £64.41 £0 xx

25/06/2022 £2666.67 £2012.71 £85.87 £64.41 £0 xx

30/07/2022 £2666.67 £2128.60 £00.00 £64.41 £0 xx

27/08/2022 £2666.67 £2128.40 £00.00 £64.41 £0 £85

30/09/2022 £2666.67 £2128.40 £00.00 £64.41 £0 £85

28/10/2022 £2666.67 £2128.60 £00.00 £64.41 £0 £85

25/11/2022 £2666.67 £2128.60 £00.00 £64.41 £0 £85

30/12/2022 £2666.67 £2148.63 £00.00 £64.41 £0 £85

Total not £686.96 £901.74 paid Nov 21 – Dec 22

7 CAS-110509-V6K1 Appendix Two Month Payslip Gross Net pay Mrs H’s Employer Employer pay paid to direct contribution contribution bank payment to required into Scheme Scheme January 2023 Not seen Not seen *£2128.60 £85 £64.41 £0 February 2023 Not seen Not seen *£2148.83 £85 £64.41 £0 March 2023 Not seen Not seen *£2148.83 £85 £64.41 £0 April 2023 Not seen Not seen *£2148.83 £85 £64.41 £0 May 2023 ** Not seen £2666.67 Not seen £85 £64.41 £0 Total not £322.05 paid Jan 23 - May 23 Overall £1,159.38 Employer total not paid

* Net pay evidenced by bank statements ** May 2023 gross pay of £2,666.67 awarded by Employment Tribunal

8 CAS-110509-V6K1 Appendix Three NEST Scheme Rules

Rule 7.1.1

Where in respect of a member a participating employer has elected to use the Scheme to:

(a) fulfil its duties under:(i) in relation to Great Britain, section 2(1) (by virtue of section), 3(2), 5(2) or 7(3) of the 2008 Act; or(ii) in relation to Northern Ireland, section 2(1) (by virtue of section), 3(2), 5(2) or 7(3) of the 2008 NI Act), or

(b) arrange for a worker to become a member of the Scheme within article 19(2A) of the Order,

from the date that admission to membership or the making of contribution arrangements in relation to that member takes effect, the participating employer shall pay and the Trustee shall accept such contributions as may be required in order for the Scheme to meet the quality requirement referred to in Part 1 of the 2008 Act (Part 1 of the 2008 NI Act), or the alternative requirement referred to in Part 1 of the 2008 Act (or Part 1 of the 2008 NI Act), in relation to the member, having regard to the contributions being paid by the member under rule 9.1.

Section 20 Pensions Act 2008

20 Quality requirement: UK money purchase schemes

(1) A money purchase scheme that has its main administration in the United Kingdom satisfies the quality requirement in relation to a jobholder if under the scheme—

(a) the jobholder's employer must pay contributions in respect of the jobholder;

(b) the employer's contribution, however calculated, must be equal to or more than 3% of the amount of the jobholder's qualifying earnings in the relevant pay reference period;

(c) the total amount of contributions paid by the jobholder and the employer, however calculated, must be equal to or more than 8% of the amount of the jobholder's qualifying earnings in the relevant pay reference period.

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