The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has upheld a complaint against Rowanmoor Group plc, and other member trustees of the Alloy Sales Limited Executive Pension Scheme, for inadequate due diligence for a small self-administered scheme (SSAS) transfer.

Rowanmoor was ordered to recalculate the additional sum due to the complainant, Mr N; and pay £250 for the “serious distress and inconvenience” its maladministration caused him, while the member trustees were directed to pay Mr N £750 for the same reason.

In addition to his, the member trustees were ordered, together with Rowanmoor as independent trustee, to authorise the payment, with Rowanmoor to then make the payment to Mr N’s Standard Life pension.

The scheme is a SSAS, an occupational pension scheme with fewer than 12 members, all of whom are trustees and take responsibility.

Mr N retired in 2017 and agreed with the other member trustees to transfer his share of the fund to a separate provider, Standard Life.

Rowanmoor, in return for a fee, agreed to administer the actuarial valuation of the scheme and to provide Mr N with financial advice.

However, the transferred amount of £579,399 was £8,000 less than originally quoted.

Errors in the fund split came to light in early 2018, and by March 2019, Rowanmoor admitted to an underpayment of £24,839.

Despite agreeing on the error, Rowanmoor and the trustees failed to resolve the issue promptly.

Rowanmoor sought cooperation from the other trustees to authorise the additional payment, but the trustees failed to engage, leading to delays.

TPO also faced non-responsiveness from the trustees over several years, despite repeated attempts to address the complaint.

The case was then passed on to the adjudicator who concluded that further action was required by the Rowanmoor and the other member trustees.

The adjudicator said despite the "negligent misstatement" of Mr N’s fund, Rowanmoor has recognised its error and tried to take steps to correct it but was met with resistance from the other member trustees.

The adjudicator also concluded that Mr N was entitled to the correct benefits and if the other member trustees felt Rowanmoor should meet the cost that was for them to resolve with Rowanmoor and, if necessary, to bring a complaint of their own against Rowanmoor as the scheme administrator.

In addition to this, the adjudicator said it was their opinion that on the evidence available there was no reason for the other member trustees to withhold their authority to make the additional payment.

The adjudicator also said that the delay in accepting that there was an error in calculations was “unreasonable” and amounted to maladministration which could have added to Mr N’s distress and inconvenience.

It also stated the other member trustees failed in their duty to ensure Mr N received his correct benefits and failed to cooperate or engage with TPO’s investigation into his complaint against them.

Mr N and Rowanmoor accepted the adjudicator's decision, but the other member trustees did not respond, so the complaint was passed over to the ombudsman, Dominic Harris, who agreed with the adjudicator's opinion.

In his decision, Harris stated: “Without a response from the other member trustees I have no reason to doubt Rowanmoor’s account of its dealings with them, or of the need to pay an additional sum to Mr N.

“I can only conclude that Rowanmoor has tried to resolve the position but that, for whatever reason, the other member trustees have failed to cooperate.

“This is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.”

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