Nest · CAS-63094-L7R3

CAS-63094-L7R3

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr D

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent (1) LJS Payroll Limited - IN LIQUIDATION (2) Northern Freight Company Limited - IN LIQUIDATION (3) LJS Transport of Settle Limited (4) Lee James Staveley, trading as LJS Transport

Outcome

Background information, including submissions from the parties In June 2014, Mr D began his employment with the Fourth Respondent.

The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) is only considering unpaid contributions from November 2017 onwards, due to a jurisdiction decision in this regard.

1 CAS-63094-L7R3 Between April 2018 and January 2020, Mr D’s employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Scheme despite deducting these from Mr D’s pay.

On 6 December 2020, Mr D brought his complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Mr D provided copies of the payslips that he held for the period from April 2018 to January 2020 which detailed the pension contributions deducted from his pay and the corresponding employer contributions. A breakdown of the deductions has been included in the Appendix. Mr d states that these contributions have not been paid into the Scheme (and there is documentary evidence supporting a failure to make accurate and timely payments into the Scheme).

Caseworker’s Opinion

• The Caseworker 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. She said that, as the Respondents

2 CAS-63094-L7R3 had not responded to any of TPO’s communications, she had to base her Opinion solely on the information provided by Mr D.

• The Caseworker said that she had no reason to doubt the information provided by Mr D. So, in the Caseworker’s Opinion, on the balance of probabilities, contributions had been deducted from Mr D’s salary but had not been paid into the Scheme. In addition, the Respondents had not paid any of the employer contributions that were due over the same period. As a result of its maladministration, Mr D was not in the financial position he ought to be in and the Respondents should pay the missing contributions to the Scheme.

• In the Caseworker’s view, Mr D had suffered severe distress and inconvenience due to the Respondents maladministration. The Caseworker was of the opinion that an award of £1,000 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

Ombudsman’s decision

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Directions

(i) pay Mr D £2,000 for the severe distress and inconvenience he has experienced;

(ii) pay the missing contributions to the Scheme, totalling £1,939.10, as set out in the Appendix below;

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

(iv) pay within 14 days of receiving confirmation from NEST of any shortfall in Mr D’s units, the cost of purchasing any additional units required to make up the shortfall and any reasonable administration fee should the Scheme administrator charge a fee for carrying out the above calculation.

(v) in the event that (iii) and (iv) are not complied with, and the Scheme is able to confirm fewer units were purchased in Mr D’s Scheme account than he would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time, then the respondents shall pay in accordance with (iv) above upon confirmation of the shortfall amount together with any reasonable administration fee should the Scheme administrator charge a fee for carrying out the above calculation.

Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman

13 May 2024 4 CAS-63094-L7R3 Appendix Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

April 2018 £44.87 £37.39

May 2018 £59.61 £49.67

June 2018 £40.49 £33.74

July 2018 £45.09 £37.57

August 2018 £70.82 £59.02

September 2018 £48.27 £40.23

October 2018 £0.00 £0.00

November 2018 £0.00 £0.00

December 2018 £0.00 £0.00

January 2019 £58.22 £48.52

February 2019 £0.00 £0.00

March 2019 £0.00 £0.00

April 2019 £0.00 £0.00

May 2019 £90.40 £67.80

June 2019 £78.52 £58.89

July 2019 87.32 £65.49

August 2019 £85.78 £64.34

September 2019 £84.46 £63.35

October 2019 £106.68 £80.01

November 2019 £78.74 £59.06

December 2019 £78.19 £58.64

January 2020 £33.10 £24.82

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