Nest · CAS-104268-X3G5

CAS-104268-X3G5

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Ms H

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent Upstairs Downstairs Cleaning Limited (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties In November 2019, Ms H began her employment with the Employer and she was enrolled into the Scheme.

On 12 April 2023, Ms H wrote to the Employer to formally complain that her pension contributions had not been paid.

The Employer responded on 13 April 2023. It said that it was experiencing financial difficulties and admitted it was due to pay contributions for the period outlined by Ms H, but that the funds were not available.

On 14 April 2023, Ms H brought a complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman’s (TPO) Office.

Ms H provided her payslips for the period from December 2021 to July 2022, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay. The total amount of employee deductions was £377.78. However, this figure does not include deductions 1 CAS-1045268-X3G5 for one week’s pay in December 2021. It should also be noted that the payslips do not detail any Employer’s contributions. A breakdown of the deductions, as provided by Ms H, has been included in the Appendix.

Caseworker’s Opinion

 The Caseworker said 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 the Employer responded to TPO’s communications and agreed that contributions were owed to Mrs H. The Employer stated that it had no means to pay but has not been able to provide any evidence that it has ceased trading.

 The Caseworker said that both parties have agreed that contributions had been deducted from Ms H’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 H is not in the financial position she ought to be in.

 In the Caseworker’s view, Ms H had suffered significant distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. The Caseworker was of

2 Ms Katie Brinkworth Upstairs Downstairs Cleaning Limited CAS-1045268-X3G5 the opinion that an award of £500 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

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

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

(iii) forward the Schedule to Ms H.

(i) pay the missing contributions to the Scheme;

3 Ms Katie Brinkworth Upstairs Downstairs Cleaning Limited CAS-1045268-X3G5 (ii) establish with the Scheme whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Ms H’s Scheme account than she would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time; and

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

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

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman 12 October 2023

4 Ms Katie Brinkworth Upstairs Downstairs Cleaning Limited CAS-1045268-X3G5 Appendix

Appendix Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

03/12/2021 2.79 0.00

10/12/2021 2.16 0.00

17/12/2021 1.81 0.00

24/12/2021 0.00 0.00

31/12/2021 1.97 0.00

07/01/2022 0.00 0.00

14/01/2022 2.81 0.00

21/01/2022 2.90 0.00

28/01/2022 10.08 0.00

04/02/2022 15.08 0.00

11/02/2022 16.97 0.00

18/02/2022 16.97 0.00

25/02/2022 15.71 0.00

04/03/2022 16.88 0.00

11/03/2022 15.78 0.00

18/03/2022 14.90 0.00

25/03/2022 18.86 0.00

01/04/2022 17.54 0.00

08/04/2022 16.44 0.00

15/04/2022 19.02 0.00

22/04/2022 12.48 0.00

29/04/2022 8.97 0.00

06/05/2022 14.24 0.00

5 Ms Katie Brinkworth Upstairs Downstairs Cleaning Limited CAS-1045268-X3G5 13/05/2022 16.88 0.00

20/05/2022 17.54 0.00

27/05/2022 12.10 0.00

03/06/2022 12.98 0.00

10/06/2022 12.98 0.00

17/06/2022 12.10 0.00

24/06/2022 8.80 0.00

01/07/2022 13.86 0.00

08/07/2022 13.42 0.00

15/07/2022 12.76 0.00

Total 377.78 0.00

6 Ms Katie Brinkworth Upstairs Downstairs Cleaning Limited