The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has upheld a complaint against the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and directed that it should pay £1,000 for the “serious distress and inconvenience caused”.

The complainant, identified in the ombudsman’s ruling as Ms R, alleged that the trust had failed to action an additional pension (AP) arrangement that she tried to set up in February 2015 and that payments were taken from her, even though it was not set up.

TPO’s ruling detailed that, in 2015, Ms R contacted the trust to purchase an AP of £1,000 per year to be payable when she reached the age of scheme.

Ms R reported that she completed form AP1, sent it to the trust and payments started to be taken from her in March 2015.

In July 2019, Ms R contacted the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) as she received a pension statement with no record of the AP but was told by NHS BSA that information regarding the AP remained outstanding for the trust.

The trust argued that it had tried to locate the form AP1 Ms R completed but had been unsuccessful and so it believed that it is unclear whether or not the form was sent to NHS BSA.

In its decision, the ombudsman stated that the evidence supported the view that the trust had received the form, otherwise it would not have taken payments from Ms R.

The ombudsman stated: “I find, on balance of probability, that the trust failed to complete and forward the form to NHS BSA.”

Additionally, the ombudsman reported that there was no action by the trust between 2017, when it was told by NHS BSA that there was no AP in place for Ms R, and 2019, when Ms R learned from her pension statement that the AP had not been set up and that this inaction amounts to maladministration by the trust.

To “put matters right”, the trust was ordered to pay Ms R £1,000 for the serious distress and inconvenience cause and to liaise with NHS BSA to establish the cost of retrospectively implementing the AP arrangements on the terms available to Ms R in February 2015.

The trust was additionally directed to, within 14 days of receiving details of the cost from NHS BSA, provide Ms R with details of the additional amount she would be required to pay, along with an appropriate payment plan, after deducting the contributions it currently holds for her.

Within 14 days of receiving Ms R’s confirmation that she wishes to proceed with the retrospective AP arrangement, the trust will be required to liaise with NHS BSA to implement the AP arrangement and pay the contributions it holds to NHS BSA.

If there are funds held by the trust in excess of those required to meet the cost of the AP, the trust shall return these to Ms R.

If Ms R confirms that she does not wish to proceed with the AP arrangement, the trust was directed to refund the contributions it holds for her together with interest at the base rate for the time being quoted by the Bank of England, from the date each contribution was paid, to the date of calculation.

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