Company Pension Employer Contributions

RedArmy1974

Hi, I will admit to being pretty useless when it comes to Pensions, so I apologise if this is completely stupid!
With the recent contribution changes instigated by the government, I have actually found that my Monthly Pension Contributions have REDUCED each month. This has been done by my Employer without my consultation or agreement.
They claim it is because the new amount is equal to the 3% minimum contribution, and that is calculated on my Net Salary?!?

Is this correct? Shouldn't they have consulted me before changing MY Pension contributions?

Any answers would be appreciated!

xylophone

https://www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/NestWeb/public/helpcentre/contents/how-do-i-calculate-contributions-if-i-m-using-qualifying-earnings.html

https://www.nowpensions.com/help-centre/faqs/contributions/what-are-auto-enrolment-contribution-rates

might be relevant?

If you need help

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

HappyHarry

RedArmy1974 wrote: »

Hi, I will admit to being pretty useless when it comes to Pensions, so I apologise if this is completely stupid!
With the recent contribution changes instigated by the government, I have actually found that my Monthly Pension Contributions have REDUCED each month. This has been done by my Employer without my consultation or agreement.
They claim it is because the new amount is equal to the 3% minimum contribution, and that is calculated on my Net Salary?!?

Is this correct? Shouldn't they have consulted me before changing MY Pension contributions?

Any answers would be appreciated!

It's unusual. There's no reason why an employer would need to reduce your personal contributions. I can only think that they changed the default for everyone to 3%, and they are just not sure how to manually amend your contributions on their systems.

You should be able to ask your employer to simply put them up again, and if they don't know how to, they could ask the pension provider for guidance..

RedArmy1974

Thanks to Both - @Xylophone and @HappyHarry - your input is very much appreciated.

I have requested the change, although I am more annoyed that the contribution was changed without consultation.
I am very interested to discover if there is some legal boundary that has been crossed, as the general attitude seems to be "brushing it off", like it is my fault!

Thanks again.

Malthusian

Legally it's an admin error. If the market went up in between your monthly contributions being reduced without your instruction, and you correcting the mistake by making a lump sum payment, you could argue that they should compensate you. But nobody would bother taking up that kind of fight with their current employer over what will be a trivial loss - if any.

And if the employer notified its employees that their contributions would be changed to the auto enrolment minimums, and that if they wished to make extra personal contributions they'd need to ask, then it's not even an error and there's no grounds for complaint, as unfair as that may feel.

RedArmy1974

Thank You @Malthusian, I appreciate your time and comments.

Brynsam

Did your employer by any chance change pension provider a couple of months ago?