The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has upheld a complaint against Mr Peter E O’Hare for failing to pay contributions into a worker's pension despite deducting contributions from his pay.

The employer was ordered to pay £1,878.92 into the scheme, and to pay the complainant, Mr L, £1,000 for the serious distress and inconvenience it had caused him.

Mr L complained that the employer, despite deducting contributions from his pay, failed to pay them into the scheme.

The complainant contacted TPO on 30 September 2024 regarding this.

The scheme administrator confirmed that contributions should have been paid into the scheme in line with its True Potential Auto Enrolment Employer Agreement from June 2022 to July 2023.

TPO then wrote several times to the employer to ask for more information in response to the complaint, but the employer failed to respond by the deadline.

The case was passed on to the adjudicator who concluded that further action was required by the employer as it had failed to remit the contributions due to the scheme.

The adjudicator said the employer acted in breach of the agreement because it had not paid the contributions due in accordance with the agreement and the expectations set out by the act.

Therefore, as a result of its maladministration, Mr L was not in the financial position he ought to be in.

The employer did not respond to the adjudicator's decision, so the complaint was passed over to the deputy ombudsman, Camilla Barry, who agreed with the adjudicator's opinion.

In her decision, Barry stated: “I find that employee contributions were deducted but held back by the employer and not paid into the scheme.

“The employer failed to rectify this and did not engage with TPO or Mr L. It also failed to respond to the adjudicator’s opinion.   

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

“Mr L is entitled to a distress and inconvenience award in respect of the serious ongoing non-financial injustice which he has suffered.

“This was exacerbated by the employer’s failure to respond during TPO’s investigation into Mr L’s complaint.”

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