Employer deducting pension contributions but not paying it to scheme

charmedsocks

Hi all,
I'm not sure if I'm in the right place. In about April 2020 I discovered that my husbands employer has been deducting his pension contributions weekly from his pay but not paying them to the pension scheme since April 2019. This is also true of their contributions. Its a small business and all employees are impacted. We raised this with the employer who for months said they couldnt deal with it as too busy etc and from then on they have said they will sort it. They continued deducting these contributions until my husband left the business in December. He asked them for updates regularly and always got the same vague response. He didnt want to pursue the issue too much in fear of losing his job or them making his working life miserable. The remaining employees are still having this issue. One is very close to retirement.
We are missing £4K plus interest of contributions. I have noticed the employer is late filing with companies house and I'm worried they are going to fold.
The pension scheme said they cant help and they have reported them multiple times to the pension regulator, who seemingly do nothing. We have also reported them to the pension regulator but they wont update individuals and nothing has so far come of it. 
I have spoken today to the pensions ombudsmen who has given me some actions.
My questions are:

1. if they fold, have we lost all the money? are the directors liable?
2. Can we go down any legal route to get our money?
3. is there anything else i can do here? 

From our perspective, there is little to no protection for employees in this situation and we feel really let down by the system.
Any help gratefully appreciated 

MEM62

Have you considered taking them to the small claims court?  The cost is modest and the process easy.  You may well find that they cough up upon receipt of the LBA.

charmedsocks

MEM62 said:

Have you considered taking them to the small claims court?  The cost is modest and the process easy.  You may well find that they cough up upon receipt of the LBA.

HI, I am going to look in to it. If they do go bust, I'm not sure I can take this route 

xylophone

Try here for help.
https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

charmedsocks

xylophone said:

Try here for help.
https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

Thank you. I should have said, I spoke to them and they told me to go to the ombudsman which i have done. But wondering if there is other routes to take because the Ombudsman told me if they fold in the meantime we will only be covered for the last 12 months of payments missed 

MEM62

If they go bust there is no point, your money is lost.    

Albermarle

MEM62 said:

If they go bust there is no point, your money is lost.    

You are very likely correct but I would have thought the Directors could at least be barred for what is clearly a fraud on the employees. 

charmedsocks

Albermarle said:

MEM62 said:

If they go bust there is no point, your money is lost.    

You are very likely correct but I would have thought the Directors could at least be barred for what is clearly a fraud on the employees. 

at a minimum I want them to be barred. but not sure how i go about it. I've bitten the bullet and gone to a lawyer for advice 

steve0510

They have, from memory 19 days from receipt of the funds (deductions) to invest them,  Late investments need to be reported by the Trustee to the Pension Regulator.  Do you know if anyone has done this?

kaMelo

Assuming this pension is through auto-enrolment and If those dates are correct, nothing paid into the pension since April 2019, then the pension company have failed in their duty as well. Whilst they cannot force an employer to do anything they should have notified the pension regulator a long time ago, who does have the power to do something, about the employers failure to maintain their duties.
The employer is breaking the law and they are who to speak to first. I would suggest contacting the the pension company too and ask them what they have been doing for the last 20 months..

Usually non compliance is dealt with through fines but it can lead to prosecution with up to two years imprisonment in the worst cases. 

Thrugelmir

charmedsocks said:

From our perspective, there is little to no protection for employees in this situation and we feel really let down by the system.

Action should have been taken a very long time ago. At the very least opting out of the pension scheme. Once the issue became apparent. 

More than likely the business is hanging on. Late filing of annual accounts is a clear sign that the auditors are unable to sign them off.