Aviva Pension Plan · CAS-79925-D9J9

CAS-79925-D9J9

Ombudsman’s Determination Applicant Miss H

Scheme Aviva Pension Plan (the Plan)

Respondent Boardworks Limited (the Employer)

Outcome

Complaint summary

Background information, including submissions from the parties On 1 October 2020, Miss H joined the Plan.

Between October 2020 and May 2021, the Employer failed to pay pension contributions into the Plan.

In early June 2021, Miss H became aware that contributions were not being paid to the Plan and raised the issue with the Employer.

On 15 June 2021, the Employer called Miss H to discuss payment options and agreed that payment of contributions for February 2021 to September 2021 would be made monthly during the period June 2021 to October 2021. However, no payments were ever made.

On 30 September 2021, Miss H discussed payment options again with the Employer who agreed that weekly payments would be made from 18 October 2021 to 20 December 2021. It said that these payments would cover the period from February 2021 to November 2021.

1 CAS-79925-D9J9 On 26 October 2021, Miss H raised her concerns over the unpaid pension contributions with the Employer and requested copies of her payslips from September 2020 to February 2021.

Later that day, the Employer responded and provided copies of most of the requested payslips.

On 28 October 2021, Miss H brought her complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO).

Miss H provided copies of the payslips that she held for the period from October 2020 to May 2021, which detailed the pension contributions deducted from her pay and the corresponding employer contributions. The employee deductions amounted to £547.53 and the corresponding employer contributions equalled £1,368.78. A breakdown of the deductions has been included in the Appendix.

On 24 November 2021, Miss H agreed an adjustment to the payment agreement with the Employer so that weekly payments would be made from 26 November 2021 to 16 February 2022. The payment agreement would cover the period from February 2021 to January 2022.

On 14 December 2021, Miss H agreed a “more structured agreement” with the Employer so monthly, and sometimes twice monthly, payments would be made from 14 January 2022 to 23 September 2022 to cover the period from February 2021 to March 2022.

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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 provided a detailed response to TPO’s communications, she had to base her Opinion solely on the information provided by Miss H.

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

• In the Caseworker’s view, Miss H had suffered serious distress and inconvenience due to the Employer’s maladministration. In the opinion of the Caseworker an award of £1,000 for non-financial injustice was appropriate in the circumstances.

3 CAS-79925-D9J9 It thinks that the Opinion is one-sided and hasn’t taken into consideration the stresses it has experienced.

It had been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and is struggling financially.

It is an “exaggeration” to describe the distress and inconvenience as serious.

It will pay the unpaid contributions and any associated financial loss. So, there was no need to make an additional award of £1,000. Especially given it is struggling to manage as it is.

• The Employer has been unresponsive throughout the process, so any concerns about their side not being heard are of its own making. The Employer did not refute the facts upon which the Opinion was based.

• The Employer made non-payment of pensions its standard practice.

• The distress and inconvenience caused by this issue is due to the attitude of the Employer, which is demonstrated in its response. She had tried to resolve the matter informally, but she had been ignored.

• The Employer has said it will pay the unpaid contributions on multiple occasions. However, it has always failed to do so.

Ombudsman’s decision

4 CAS-79925-D9J9 Directions

(i) pay Miss H £1,000 for the serious distress and inconvenience she has experienced;

(ii) produce a schedule (the Schedule) showing the employee contributions deducted from Miss 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 Plan; and

(iii) forward the Schedule to Miss H.

(i) pay the missing contributions to the Plan;

(ii) establish with the Plan administrator, Aviva, whether the late payment of contributions has meant that fewer units were purchased in Miss H‘s Plan account than she would have otherwise secured, had the contributions been paid on time; and

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

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

Anthony Arter

Pensions Ombudsman 1 December 2022

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Appendix Pay for month of Employee contributions Employer contributions Date due Date paid

May 2021 £53.95 £134.87 22 June 2021 Not paid

April 2021 £83.18 £207.94 22 May 2021 Not paid

March 2021 £79.76 £199.40 22 April 2021 Not paid

February 2021 £199.40 22 March 2021 Not paid

February 2021 £79.76 22 March 2021 1 April 2022

January 2021 £65.82 £164.55 22 February 2021 8 November 2021

December 2020 £70.50 £176.24 22 January 2021 8 February 2021

November 2020 £57.28 £143.19 22 December 2020 9 February 2021

October 2020 £57.28 £143.19 22 November 2020 14 January 2021

Total contributions payable £547.53 £1,368.78

Total contributions paid (£330.64) (£627.17)

Total contributions outstanding £216.89 £741.61

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