The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has upheld a complaint against The Bridge Agent Limited for failing to pay contributions into a worker's pension despite deducting contributions from his pay.

The employer was ordered to pay £279.97 into the scheme and ensure that the complainant, 'Mr D', was not financially disadvantaged by its maladministration by arranging for any investment loss to be calculated and paid into the scheme.

Additionally, the employer was ordered to pay Mr D £500 for the significant distress and inconvenience it has caused him.

Between April and July 2023, the employer failed to pay Mr D's pension contributions into the scheme, and Mr D later complained to TPO in November 2023.

While the employer agreed to pay the outstanding contributions of £446.18 to Mr D's scheme account, it complained of "IT issues" preventing the payment from being made in full.

Following this, the employer didn't respond to requests to pay the remaining amount.

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

The adjudicator said that based on the information provided by Mr D and the Scheme administrator, £159.98 in employee contributions and £119.99 in employer contributions had not been remitted by the employer to the scheme, a total of £279.97.

It added that because of its maladministration, Mr D was not in the financial position he ought to be in, so he was awarded £500 for non-financial injustice.

The employer did not respond to the adjudicator's opinion, so the complaint was passed over to the ombudsman, Dominic Harris, for consideration. He agreed with the adjudicator's decision.

In his decision, Harris said: "Mr S has complained that the employer has not paid all the contributions due to his scheme account.

"From the evidence available to me, 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 fully engage with TPO or Mr D. It has also failed to respond to the adjudicator's decision.

"Mr D is entitled to a distress and inconvenience award in respect of the significant ongoing non-financial injustice which he has suffered.

"This was exacerbated by the employer's failure to respond fully during TPO's investigation into Mr D's complaint."

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