Nest · CAS-94887-Z8L5

CAS-94887-Z8L5

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs B

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondents Little Acorns Day Nursery (the Employer)

Outcome I do not uphold Mrs B’s complaint and no action is required by the Employer.

Complaint summary Mrs B has complained that the Employer delayed paying contributions into the Scheme.

Background The sequence of events is not in dispute, so I have only set out the main points.

In January 2012, Mrs B began her employment with the Employer.

Between October 2019 and August 2022, the Employer delayed paying pension contributions into the Scheme.

All delayed contributions were paid into the Scheme by August 2022. (Please see Appendix)

On 10 October 2022, Mrs B brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO). Although all pension contributions were paid into the Scheme, she remained dissatisfied with the delay in paying the contributions and asserted that this may have resulted in a financial loss.

Mrs B provided copies of the payslips that she held for the period from October 2019 to August 2022, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions. These deductions amounted to £1,477.27 in employee contributions and £1,108.05 in employer contributions. A breakdown of the deductions has been included in the Appendix.

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Summary of Mrs B’s position: -

• The loss assessment completed by the Scheme administrator only measured short-term price difference. It looked at each individual contribution instead of the growth of the Scheme and several contributions showed £0.00 tax relief. It omits cumulative market growth.

• The Employer’s Independent Financial Adviser (the IFA) calculated an approximate loss of £84.79.

• She suffered distress and inconvenience due to the delay in the Employer paying contributions to the Scheme.

Summary of the Employer’s position: -

• Mrs B’s contributions are up to date and there are no further payments due to the Scheme.

• It contacted the IFA and established that the loss assessment was calculated on the assumption that the Scheme’s average rate of return over the previous five years was 5.3% and concluded that Mrs B suffered a loss of £84.79.

Adjudicator’s Opinion

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Mrs B did not accept the Adjudicator’s Opinion, and the complaint was referred to me to consider. Mrs B provided her further comments in response to the Opinion. She said :-

• The loss assessment only measures individual contribution price differences which disregards compound growth.

• The loss assessment does not take into account the existing value of the fund.

• No explanation or methodology has been provided to support the £28.88 appreciation in the value of the Scheme.

• The non-financial injustice caused has been understated.

I note the additional points raised by Mrs B, but I agree with the Adjudicator’s Opinion that the complaint should not be upheld.

Ombudsman’s decision

A loss assessment determines the value of contributions had they been invested on a specific date to determine whether the member has suffered a loss by calculating the number of units that should have been purchased on the date the funds should have been invested and compares this with the actual number of units that were purchased. I consider this to be a reasonable and appropriate approach, and I see no basis on which to depart from it. I have also not been provided with any evidence to demonstrate that the metrics used in the loss assessment undertaken by the Scheme administrator were inaccurate.

The loss assessment focuses on the period in which contributions were not paid to the Scheme as per the relevant regulations, and not the total value of the Scheme because the contributions that were paid on time were invested and grew in line with

3 CAS-94887-Z8L5 market conditions. Therefore, it would not be reasonable to conduct a loss assessment in respect of the funds that were paid on time, as no disadvantage has been established in relation to them.

Therefore, I do not uphold Mrs B’s complaint.

Camilla Barry Pensions Ombudsman 2 February 2026

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Appendix

Date Employer Employee Date paid to contribution contribution the Scheme October 2019 31.24 41.65 04/02/2020 November 2019 31.24 41.65 04/02/2020 December 2019 31.24 41.65 04/02/2020 January 2020 31.24 41.65 07/09/2020 February 2020 31.24 41.65 07/09/2020 March 2020 31.24 41.65 07/09/2020 April 2020 21.68 28.90 07/09/2020 May 2020 21.68 28.90 07/09/2020 June 2020 21.68 28.90 07/09/2020 July 2020 32.12 42.82 07/09/2020 August 2020 31.15 41.54 11/02/2021 September 2020 31.15 41.54 25/08/2022 October 2020 31.15 41.54 21/11/2022 November 2020 31.15 41.54 11/02/2021 December 2020 31.15 41.54 11/02/2021 January 2021 31.15 41.54 11/02/2021 February 2021 31.15 41.54 14/07/2022 March 2021 31.15 41.54 14/07/2022 April 2021 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 May 2021 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 June 2021 31.86 42.47 21/07/2022 July 2021 36.36 48.47 14/07/2022 August 2021 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 September 2021 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 October 2021 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 November 2021 35.64 47.51 14/07/2022 December 2021 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 January 2022 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 February 2022 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 March 2022 31.86 42.47 14/07/2022 April 2022 36.73 48.97 14/07/2022 May 2022 36.73 48.97 25/08/2022 June 2022 36.73 48.97 25/08/2022 July 2022 36.73 48.97 19/08/2022 August 2022 36.73 48.97 26/10/2022

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