Withholding Pension Contributions – 9 Months of Deductions, Incomplete Payments

bigbobber

I’ve been employed with my current employer for 9 months. Since my start date, pension contributions have been deducted from my salary, with employer-matched contributions also due under the Aegon SMART pension scheme.

A few months ago, after repeated follow-up, I gained access to my Aegon account. Neither my employer or Aegon seemed to want to let me access it. I could immediately see there were missing contributions. Despite monthly deductions being listed on my payslips and confirmed in an internal spreadsheet, only 5 contributions have been received into my pension account.

Most recently, no contribution was received at all — my latest statement from Aegon shows £0 added, even though the usual amount was again deducted from salary.

I raised this several times with payroll and HR. I was told Aegon was experiencing onboarding delays and that contributions were being held in an internal account. Aegon has stated that they have no record of the majority of payments, and neither party has responded to follow-up enquiries.

I reported the issue to The Pensions Regulator. They confirmed that while they use reports like mine to identify systemic issues, they do not pursue investigations on behalf of individuals and won’t be in direct contact again.

At this point, I’m seeking advice from others who may have gone through a similar situation — particularly regarding outcomes from formal grievances, ACAS early conciliation, or employment tribunal claims. Any guidance or experiences would be appreciated.

Marcon

bigbobber said:

I’ve been employed with my current employer for 9 months. Since my start date, pension contributions have been deducted from my salary, with employer-matched contributions also due under the Aegon SMART pension scheme.

A few months ago, after repeated follow-up, I gained access to my Aegon account. Neither my employer or Aegon seemed to want to let me access it. I could immediately see there were missing contributions. Despite monthly deductions being listed on my payslips and confirmed in an internal spreadsheet, only 5 contributions have been received into my pension account.

Most recently, no contribution was received at all — my latest statement from Aegon shows £0 added, even though the usual amount was again deducted from salary.

I raised this several times with payroll and HR. I was told Aegon was experiencing onboarding delays and that contributions were being held in an internal account. Aegon has stated that they have no record of the majority of payments, and neither party has responded to follow-up enquiries.

I reported the issue to The Pensions Regulator. They confirmed that while they use reports like mine to identify systemic issues, they do not pursue investigations on behalf of individuals and won’t be in direct contact again.

At this point, I’m seeking advice from others who may have gone through a similar situation — particularly regarding outcomes from formal grievances, ACAS early conciliation, or employment tribunal claims. Any guidance or experiences would be appreciated.

Nothing to do with ACAS or an employment tribunal, and war stories from other people's experiences of how their employer handled a grievance won't give you any idea how your employer will deal with it.

But happily there's a much more useful route.

Once you've exhausted any internal complaints processes (your employer's and/or the provider's), the Pensions Ombudsman is your next stop, with a claim of maladministration and a request to be put in the position you would have been in had contributions been allocated at the correct time. If the funds in which you should have been invested have gained, you get the current value. If they've lost value, you get the value of your and your employer's contributions. 

penners324

Sounds like your company is short of cash and not paying pension contributions for anyone.

Ask your colleagues to check their pensions.

dunstonh

A few months ago, after repeated follow-up, I gained access to my Aegon account. Neither my employer or Aegon seemed to want to let me access it.

Aegon do want you to access it as it reduces the admin burden.  Aegon's software can be a bit clunky though.

I raised this several times with payroll and HR. I was told Aegon was experiencing onboarding delays and that contributions were being held in an internal account. Aegon has stated that they have no record of the majority of payments, and neither party has responded to follow-up enquiries.

The employer's payroll team submits the salary and pension contribution amounts to Aegon each month.   Aegon then collects a single direct debit for the total.      

If there is no record, this suggests the employer has either left you off or they have not submitted the schedule to Aegon.   You could find this out by asking other employees to check if they have been getting their pension contributions.  If it's just you with missing payments, then it is an isolated issue.  If it's others suffering as well, then it's a wider issue with the company.    It is not uncommon for companies with cashflow problems, for example, to stop paying the pension contribution.

bigbobber

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I think it might be time to contact the Pensions Ombudsman with that complaint.

It is known internally that our university has very bad cashflow issues, and it appears they thought they could take the money out of my payslip and keep it. I don't see how this is legal, but I will pursue the maladministration route.

Marcon

bigbobber said:

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I think it might be time to contact the Pensions Ombudsman with that complaint.

It is known internally that our university has very bad cashflow issues, and it appears they thought they could take the money out of my payslip and keep it. I don't see how this is legal, but I will pursue the maladministration route.

Have you exhausted the internal complaints procedures open to you? The PO won't normally take a case until you have done so.

bigbobber

They aren't cooperating with me. I have multiple emails over the 9 months span, they choose to only respond to a few of them and they are apologetic on the surface but also quite dismissive with me and never help or provide any answers. My last email was requesting action within a reasonable time frame but they just stopped responding and that was over a month ago.

Do you think I have a case? 

Marcon

bigbobber said:

They aren't cooperating with me. I have multiple emails over the 9 months span, they choose to only respond to a few of them and they are apologetic on the surface but also quite dismissive with me and never help or provide any answers. My last email was requesting action within a reasonable time frame but they just stopped responding and that was over a month ago.

Do you think I have a case? 

It's certainly worth a go - make sure you make it clear in your application to the PO that you have made repeated attempts to get both your employer and the provider to clarify matters and they have failed to engage in any meaningful way over a period of 9 months.

LHW99

You can usually upload information to attach to your complaint, so make file copies / scans of the emails and include them, as well as a list of phone calls (dates / people)

Hoenir

bigbobber said:

I reported the issue to The Pensions Regulator. They confirmed that while they use reports like mine to identify systemic issues, they do not pursue investigations on behalf of individuals and won’t be in direct contact again.

You've reported the issue and it won't be taken lightly. Possibly explains the lack of response to emails you've sent internally. Wheels are now in motion. Grind slowly but effectively. 

TheMilkmansDad

Daft question - have you listed the dates and deductions from your payslips for contributions (both Employee & Employer) and cross referenced that with what shows as being credited to you Aegon pension? Note that dates wont match as the employer has until the 22nd of the month following the deductions to send money across to the provider. There would also be a period allowed for Aegon to allocate to your account.

You'd need this anyway if your raising a complaint so would be advisable to have these details if you've not got them already.