Nest · CAS-69459-K3D0

CAS-69459-K3D0

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mrs W

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent Albany Grange Ltd (T-A Martin Veasey Talent Solutions) (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties Between April 2020 and August 2020, the Employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Scheme.

On 17 March 2021, Mrs W brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

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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 if any investment returns were due on the unpaid pension contributions. She said that, as the Employer had not responded to all of TPO’s communications, she had to base her Opinion solely on the information provided by Mrs W.

• The Caseworker said that she had no reason to doubt the information provided by Mrs W. So, in the Caseworker’s Opinion, on the balance of probabilities, the contributions were paid late and this could have caused financial loss. As a result of the Employer’s maladministration, Mrs W was not in the financial position she ought to be in.

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

2 CAS-69459-K3D0 Ombudsman’s decision

Directions

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

(ii) produce a schedule (the Schedule) showing the employee contributions deducted from Mrs W’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 Mrs W.

(i) establish with the Scheme whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Mrs W’s Scheme account than she would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time; and

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

3 CAS-69459-K3D0 Within 14 days of receiving confirmation from NEST of any shortfall in Mrs W’s units, pay the cost of purchasing any additional units required to make up the shortfall.

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman 6 March 2023

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