Nest · CAS-93238-D7T1

CAS-93238-D7T1

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Mr S

Scheme NEST (the Scheme)

Respondent Alpha Home Design Ltd (the Employer)

Outcome Mr S’ complaint is upheld and, to put matters right, the Employer shall pay £828.10 into the Scheme. The Employer shall ensure that Mr S is not financially disadvantaged by its maladministration. So, it shall arrange for any investment loss to be calculated and paid into the Scheme.

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties

On 22 February 2022, an application to strike-off the Employer’s company off the Registrar of Companies was made, but an objection to strike-off was lodged on 10 March 2022.

On 2 August 2022, the former ‘active’ director of the company resigned, leaving the company with no active directors. Both confirmation statement and accounts for the year ending 2021 have not been filed and are overdue. The Employer on Companies House is still “an active” company.

1 TPO’s attempts to get in contact with the Employer were unsuccessful and neither of the requests for further information were responded to.

2 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 Employer had not responded to any of TPO’s communications, she had to base her Opinion solely on the information provided by Mr S.

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

• In the Caseworker’s view, Mr S had suffered serious distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s 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

The Employer failed to rectify the issue and did not engage with TPO during the investigation. It has also failed to respond to the Caseworker’s Opinion. On 25 September 2023, TPO contacted the Employer for a response to Mr S’ complaint, but notification of a failed email delivery was received. The same notification was received on 29 September 2023.

On 26 September 2023, TPO wrote to the Employer’s registered address. This request was repeated on 19 October 2023.TPO’s attempts to get in contact with the 3 Employer were unsuccessful and neither of the requests for further information were responded to. Due to the lack of engagement from the Employer, I have not seen any evidence contradicting Mr S’ account or a denial of liability.

Considering the Employer’s failure to engage with TPO’s investigation, I have only been able consider the available evidence that Mr S has provided. Having reviewed the payslips for the preceding months, the Scheme letters confirming payments were missing, and the Scheme account which showed that the last contribution made was in December 2021, I am satisfied that, on the balance of probabilities, contributions were more likely than not deducted for the entire period as claimed. I therefore find that employee contributions were deducted but held back by the Employer and not paid into the Scheme between January 2022 and July 2022.

The payslips between September 2021 to February 2022 showed that the Mr S’ contributions remained the same throughout. The Employer’s contributions were shown on two of these payslips, but also remained consistent. In addition, Mr S’ wage as indicated on the payslips remained the same. Where the contributions were stated as missing on the Scheme’s letters, it matched the contributions indicated on the payslips. As set out in the Appendix, this which was £50.70 for the employer contributions and £67.60 for Mr S’ contributions.

Contributions are due for seven months at a monthly rate of £50.70 for the employer’s contributions and £67.60 for Mr S’ contributions. This amounts to £354.90 of employer contributions and £473.20 of employee contributions. A total £828.10 of unpaid contributions are therefore due Mr S’ Scheme account.

Directions

4 Anthony Arter CBE

Deputy Pensions Ombudsman

30 June 2024

5 Appendix Date Employee contributions Employer contributions

September 2021 67.60

October 2021 67.70 50.70

November 2021 67.70

December 2021 67.70

January 2022 67.60 50.70

February 2022 67.60 50.70

March 2022 no payslip no payslip

April 2022 no payslip no payslip

May 2022 no payslip no payslip

June 2022 no payslip no payslip

July 2022 no payslip no payslip

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