Auto enrolment chaos, what are my rights?

hyubh

Penguin_ said:

DE_612183 said:

I think once the money gets into the pension it's difficult to get it refunded

There are some providers, such as NEST, where you can get refunded within the first 6 months of being enrolled.

This is not correct. The statutory deadline is one month from being enrolled, though if there's an administrator mess up, that can be extended. Hence the advice on NEST's own website: https://www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/memberhelpcentre/opting-out/how-to-opt-out.htmladvisers/opting-out

p00hsticks

VirgilBrigman said:

I wondered, how come I've only just noticed this? 

From your own admission, by not checking your payslips and monitoring your e-mails ....

Marcon

Penguin_ said:

DE_612183 said:

I think once the money gets into the pension it's difficult to get it refunded

There are some providers, such as NEST, where you can get refunded within the first 6 months of being enrolled.

Unless someone opts out within a month of being enrolled, there are normally no refunds from a defined contribution scheme - and certainly not from NEST!

Fuller information:

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/building-your-retirement-pot/getting-your-pension-contributions-refunded

Marcon

VirgilBrigman said:

I was paid at the end of May in the usual manner, I never check my payslip as it comes by email, you have to log in and so if my payment amount is about right then I tend not to bother. 

I noticed that the amount paid into my bank was lower than usual and so checked the payslip and noticed that I had a deduction for a pension. I'd opted out of the pension when I joined the company a couple of years back and had received no notification since from any party about being opted back in. 

I spoke to our payroll which is an external service provider who pointed me to the pension provider and spoke to them today. Apparently they had emailed me back in March, however I never saw this email, they admitted that it could have gone in to spam. Actually, when I last opted out I kept on receiving emails from them and therefore asked to be removed from their list from a data protection act point of view. This was obviously was never acted upon as on checking I can confirm that they had indeed sent me an email back In March 2025. Of course, I had ignored this as I had opted out of the service and communication. 

They told me that as I had passed the 30 day mark and the deadline was 1st May there is nothing that they can do to refund these payment and another amount will be deducted during June as well. I have instructed my employer and payroll service not to pay another penny of my money to this company though I wonder if they are able to withold this. 

I wondered, how come I've only just noticed this? I spoke to the payroll provider and apparently this amount was deducted in April as well and on checking my payslip they are indeed correct. However the amount paid into my account for that month was as usual (therefore incorrect on my employers part) and so it has taken another month for me to discover any of this. 

I obviously don't want another pension with a few quid in it, so what are my options here? From my side I feel like I have done nothing wrong. 

You might feel that way, but by your own admission:

• you don't bother to check your payslip
• you clearly don't bother to check your spam folder (your responsibility - you set the filters)
• you've not bothered to find out anything about pensions and why staying in, rather than opting out is highly likely to be in your financial interests.

The employer's contribution is part of your employment package. As someone else on this site commented a few weeks ago, it isn't 'free money' - it's money you have earned. Would you happily give up part of your salary?

Your post is headed 'auto enrolment chaos' but your employer appears to have acted entirely correctly by re-enrolling you 3 years after you first opted out. 

Maybe time to take some personal responsibility rather than trying foist 'blame' onto anyone and everyone else?

penners324

Why opt out of the pension scheme?
Your future self won't thank you.

And you've not read your emails nor looked at the payslips. So its on you not the company payroll department 

squirrelpie

dreaming said:

The bit I don't understand is not checking your payslip. When I worked I checked mine every month (usually visible the day before the cash arrived in bank account) and picked up an anomaly due to some changes (I thought) in core hours worked and overtime

To be fair, although the OP said they don't check their payslip, they also said that they effectively check the total and if it's different to normal then they do check. That sounds pretty sound to me, and I sympathise with having to login just to check a payslip! Bring back paper, I say!

VirgilBrigman

Hello, thanks all for comments. I have a very specific reason for not wanting to be in the company pension which I will not explain. At the moment it's not suitable. 

I don't check my payslips as my earnings never change, I don't get paid overtime and the like so it is easier to check the bank. 

My main concern here is that the 30 day cooling off period is not enough. If you have accidentally re-enrolled to the company pension due to a lack of adequate communication from the provider then you would only notice on being paid which for many people is the end of the month meaning you 30 day period had expired. 

This should be extended. 

From my side, I will be insisting on having all statements and future communication through the post. Email is not sufficient as it is delivered to my work email and their comms went in to spam. 

Thanks again. 

hyubh

VirgilBrigman said:

Hello, thanks all for comments. I have a very specific reason for not wanting to be in the company pension which I will not explain. At the moment it's not suitable. 

I don't check my payslips as my earnings never change, I don't get paid overtime and the like so it is easier to check the bank. 

My main concern here is that the 30 day cooling off period is not enough. If you have accidentally re-enrolled to the company pension due to a lack of adequate communication from the provider then you would only notice on being paid which for many people is the end of the month meaning you 30 day period had expired. 

This should be extended.

All because of your very specific reason (too hard to explain) to refuse your employer paying money for your retirement...? Not going to happen I'm afraid, re-enrolment rules are deliberate government policy for well over a decade now.

MeteredOut

hyubh said:

VirgilBrigman said:

Hello, thanks all for comments. I have a very specific reason for not wanting to be in the company pension which I will not explain. At the moment it's not suitable. 

I don't check my payslips as my earnings never change, I don't get paid overtime and the like so it is easier to check the bank. 

My main concern here is that the 30 day cooling off period is not enough. If you have accidentally re-enrolled to the company pension due to a lack of adequate communication from the provider then you would only notice on being paid which for many people is the end of the month meaning you 30 day period had expired. 

This should be extended.

All because of your very specific reason (too hard to explain) to refuse your employer paying money for your retirement...? Not going to happen I'm afraid, re-enrolment rules are deliberate government policy for well over a decade now.

OP didn't say too hard to explain, but did not want to explain.

I'm guessing impending divorce and not wanting to share pension with ex. Can't share money that's already spent.

Marcon

VirgilBrigman said:

My main concern here is that the 30 day cooling off period is not enough. If you have accidentally re-enrolled to the company pension due to a lack of adequate communication from the provider then you would only notice on being paid which for many people is the end of the month meaning you 30 day period had expired. 

This should be extended. 

From my side, I will be insisting on having all statements and future communication through the post. Email is not sufficient as it is delivered to my work email and their comms went in to spam. 

Thanks again. 

Nothing accidental about re-enrolment. The law requires your employer to take certain actions and they've done so. 

An employee has one calendar month to opt out of the workplace pension and get a full refund of any pension contributions that have been made. The opt-out window opens on the later of the day an employee receives their enrolment information from the employer, or the day the provider gives them the terms and conditions of the pension. No need at all to extend that period - the rest of the country copes perfectly well with it, but perhaps they are rather more proactive in checking their spam folder periodically - or they use a personal email address for important personal communications?

You said earlier that  'I obviously don't want another pension with a few quid in it', but it's hard to see why that's an issue. As for your options? You can take the lot in one go when you reach minimum pension age, or transfer it to another of your pensions in due course.

This all seems to be a massive overreaction to a truly trivial event, which has clearly caught you on the raw for some reason (and of course you don't have to say what that is). Please take a step back - you seem to be really winding yourself up which isn't good for you and that level of anguish quite simply isn't necessary, whatever your circumstances.