The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has upheld a complaint against Huma Kitchens Ltd after finding that the company failed to pay contributions into a worker’s Nest pension despite deducting contributions from her pay.

The employer was ordered to pay £678.30 into the scheme, as well as ensure that the complainant, Ms S, is not financially disadvantaged by its maladministration by arranging for any investment loss to be calculated and paid into the scheme.

In addition, the employer has been ordered to pay Ms S £1,000 for the “serious distress and inconvenience” it has caused her.

The complainant, Ms S, brought her complaint to TPO in January 2024, after the employer failed to pay pension contributions into the scheme between November 2022 and June 2023 despite deducting them from her salary.

However, the employer did pay a lump sum payment of £1,251.12 into the scheme in July 2023.

Ms S communicated with TPO and provided evidence that showed, despite the lump sum payment of employer contributions, there were still missing contributions that amounted to £678.30.

TPO wrote to the employer in June 2024 asking for more information on the complaint, and followed up later in the month after not receiving a response.

The employer and TPO then had contact over July and August, which included the request for further information regarding the amount of outstanding pension contributions from the employer, which TPO provided, as well as agreement from the employer that it wanted to pay the outstanding balance but did not have access to Ms S’ scheme account.

Despite TPO providing the details for Ms S’ scheme account, including her scheme member ID number and telling the employer to contact the scheme administrator for payment details, the employer failed to respond by the deadline.

The adjudicator then reviewed the complaint and determined that the employer needed to take further action because it had not submitted the required contributions to the scheme.

The employer did not respond to the adjudicator’s opinion, so the complaint was then passed to deputy pensions ombudsman, Camilla Barry, who agreed with the adjudicator’s opinion.

Commenting on the case, Barry said: “My view is that the employer has acted in breach of the scheme rules by not paying all the contributions due between November 2022 and June 2023.

“Whilst the employer did make an offer to pay the outstanding pension contributions, it failed to make this payment by the deadline.

“The employer’s failure to pay all employee and employer contributions into the scheme amounts to unjust enrichment and has caused Ms S to suffer a financial loss. The employer shall take remedial action to put this right.”

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