Unpaid Employee Pension Contributions

vegasvicar

Hi All,

I have just been notified by my employee pension scheme that my employee pension contributions have not been paid in May and June, even though they were deducted by my payslip.

This company went into administration on 2nd July - is there anything that I can and should do?

Thank you.

xylophone

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/contacting-us

vegasvicar

Thank you.

Am I right in thinking this is illegal?

molerat

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/pension-problems/pension-security/paying-contributions-on-time

My company who operated a defined contribution occupational pension scheme has become insolvent but the company failed to pay the company and employee contributions for 18 months before insolvency. How do we recover these contributions?

In this event a claim may be made to the National Insurance Fund by the insolvency practitioner for the missing employer and employee contributions due to the scheme in the 12 months leading up to the date of insolvency. For further information, you can obtain a copy of the explanatory leaflet (IL2 (REV 2)) regarding recovery of unpaid contributions from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on 020 7215 5000. For any contributions which fall outside this time limit, you and the other members of the scheme would become creditors of the employer.

Marcon

vegasvicar wrote: »

Thank you.

Am I right in thinking this is illegal?

It's unlawful not to comply with the relevant legislation about paying over employee contributions, but that doesn't help much when a company becomes insolvent, I'm afraid.

nigelbb

Marcon wrote: »

It's unlawful not to comply with the relevant legislation about paying over employee contributions, but that doesn't help much when a company becomes insolvent, I'm afraid.

It does in getting the responsible individuals brought to court & company directors barred. It’s simple theft & shows a reckless disregard for company finances. I wouldn’t be surprised if NI contributions & PAYE tax haven’t paid either.

Marcon

nigelbb wrote: »

It does in getting the responsible individuals brought to court & company directors barred. It’s simple theft & shows a reckless disregard for company finances. I wouldn’t be surprised if NI contributions & PAYE tax haven’t paid either.

Sadly it rarely does, certainly where the contributions relate to a few months rather than any longer period. The directors aren't showing a 'reckless disregard for company finances' - they are showing a cavalier attitude to cash deducted from employees' wages.

mumf

This happened to me.Its why I have a total lack of trust in the financial industry.If it is not an employer scamming you,it is pension/endowment/PPI/ scamming.Generally they seem to get away with it though.The seriousness of the crime- and that is what it is- is not reflected in the punishment.

Ever wondered why the pension ' maze' is just that? Its all smoke / mirrors and complicated transactions: and when you come to this forum the IFAs and "experts" berate you for not having the knowledge to deal with financial issues yourself,even though they are supposed to 'earn' their money by doing what they tell you that you should already know!

The whole pension thing is supposed to be regulated,but when employers can shaft employees like this,and IFAs can give ( sell) advice,but still not be held accountable,it makes you aware that it is a jungle.The whole pension industry should have standard,protected procedures,that do not need parasites to manage.

JoeCrystal

vegasvicar wrote: »

Hi All,

I have just been notified by my employee pension scheme that my employee pension contributions have not been paid in May and June, even though they were deducted by my payslip.

This company went into administration on 2nd July - is there anything that I can and should do?

Thank you.

Vegasvicar, so sorry to hear about this situation. Hopefully, the answers by xylophone and molerat would be able to help you out. In my experience with my employer, despite the law that the member contributions deducted from pay must be paid to the pension scheme by the 22nd day of the month following deduction. It takes about two months between our payday and seeing our contribution appearing in the pension plan, which is rather unfortunate.

mumf wrote: »

This happened to me. Its why I have a total lack of trust in the financial industry.If it is not an employer scamming you,it is pension/endowment/PPI/ scamming.Generally they seem to get away with it though.The seriousness of the crime- and that is what it is- is not reflected in the punishment.

Ever wondered why the pension ' maze' is just that? Its all smoke / mirrors and complicated transactions: and when you come to this forum the IFAs and "experts" berate you for not having the knowledge to deal with financial issues yourself,even though they are supposed to 'earn' their money by doing what they tell you that you should already know!

The whole pension thing is supposed to be regulated,but when employers can shaft employees like this,and IFAs can give ( sell) advice,but still not be held accountable,it makes you aware that it is a jungle.The whole pension industry should have standard,protected procedures,that do not need parasites to manage.

It seems unfair to tar all the industry with the same brush. The pension schemes and IFAs are regulated by The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority. The Pensions Regulator do issue fines for not complying with the rules, in particular with auto-enrollments.

So, mumf, how did you resolve your issue with your employer not paying into your pension scheme as you mentioned that it has happened to you as well?

mumf

JoeCrystal wrote: »

Vegasvicar, so sorry to hear about this situation. Hopefully, the answers by xylophone and molerat would be able to help you out. In my experience with my employer, despite the law that the member contributions deducted from pay must be paid to the pension scheme by the 22nd day of the month following deduction. It takes about two months between our payday and seeing our contribution appearing in the pension plan, which is rather unfortunate.



It seems unfair to tar all the industry with the same brush. The pension schemes and IFAs are regulated by The Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority. The Pensions Regulator do issue fines for not complying with the rules, in particular with auto-enrollments.

So, mumf, how did you resolve your issue with your employer not paying into your pension scheme as you mentioned that it has happened to you as well?

Basically,we were locked out of work,and the boss and his wife had raided all assets,did not pay us,and left us high and dry.As far as we knew they hightailed it to Spain.It took six months to get wages/ holiday pay and redundancy entitlement via the national insurance fund.The pension contributions I queried first via the pension company,whe referred me to the pensions regulator.After several months of letters and platitudes from the regulator,it was decided that because the thieves were abroad,there was nothing they could do and HMRC had first call on monies owed anyway!

Thrugelmir

Marcon wrote: »

Sadly it rarely does, certainly where the contributions relate to a few months rather than any longer period. The directors aren't showing a 'reckless disregard for company finances' - they are showing a cavalier attitude to cash deducted from employees' wages.

Probably too busy trying to keep the business afloat.