Smart Pension Scheme · CAS-47928-B4X0

CAS-47928-B4X0

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs S

Scheme Smart Pension Scheme (the Scheme)

Respondent The Magnificent Science Company Limited (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties

In April 2017, Mrs S began her employment with the Employer.

Between March 2019 and September 2019, the Employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Scheme.

On 3 March 2020, Mrs S brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Mrs S provided copies of the payslips that she held for the period from March 2019 to September 2019, 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.

1 CAS-47928-B4X0 Mrs S was not able to provide payslips for August 2019 and September 2019. But she has provided copies of her bank statements which showed that the Employer paid her a net salary of £1,060.53 in both months.

On 31 July 2020, the Employer made a payment to the Scheme. It covered the employee pension contributions and the corresponding employer contributions for the period March 2019 to July 2019. Despite these payments, contributions for August and September 2019 remained outstanding.

On 20 January 2022, TPO asked the Employer for its formal response to Mrs S’ complaint. This request was repeated on 30 June 2022. Neither of these requests received a response.

Adjudicator’s Opinion Mrs S’ complaint was considered by one of our Adjudicators who concluded that further action was required by the Employer as it had failed to remit the contributions that were due to the Scheme. The Adjudicator’s findings are summarised below:-

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

• Mrs S was unable to provide payslips for August and September 2019. However, she had provided her bank statements for these months and they show a net pay of £1,060.53. Mrs S also provided a copy of her July 2019 payslip which showed the same net pay of £1,060.53 with an employee pension contribution of £33.15 and an Employer pension contribution of £19.89. It was the Adjudicator’s view that on a balance of probabilities, given that Mrs S’ net pay was the same in August

2 CAS-47928-B4X0 2019 and September 2019, it was likely that Mrs S’ employee and employer contributions were the same in these months. This meant a total of £66.30 in employee contributions and £39.78 in employer contributions, a total of £106.08, was due the Scheme for these months.

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

Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

(i) pay Mrs S £500 for the significant distress and inconvenience she has experienced;

(ii) ’

;

3 CAS-47928-B4X0 (iii) establish with the Scheme administrator whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Mrs 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.

Dominic Harris

Pensions Ombudsman

18 December 2024

4 CAS-47928-B4X0 Appendix Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

March 2019 £35.25 £23.50

April 2019 £33.15 £19.89

May 2019 £35.25 £23.50

June 2019 £33.15 £19.89

July 2019 £33.15 £19.89

August 2019 Missing payslip Missing payslip

September 2019 Missing payslip Missing payslip

Total £169.95 £106.67

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