Employer being tardy with pension contributions

[FreeLitres]

My employer used to pay into my works pension like clockwork every pay day. Over the last 9 months, they have started getting a bit slack with the pension payments. They often miss a month, then do a double payment, then miss the next month, etc.

It's getting worse in 2026. So far this year, they missed the pension payment in January, did a single payment in February and have just skipped March. I have tried raising this with accounts, but I'm getting fobbed off - they are too busy, accounts staff shortages, etc.

I'm particularly annoyed right now as I was hoping to get my missing contributions in while the markets were down. It's a decent sum of money due in.

Do they have a legal obligation to pay into the pension scheme in a timely manner? Anything I can do, or is this normal?

(UK company, around 100 employees, generally doing quite well financially FYI)

[Mogul]

Irritating.

I believe the rule is that the contribution should be in by the 22nd of the following month, but there is little or nothing you can do other than remind them, if you feel it is worth spending any employee capital on this.

The worst month for them to cock this up is of course March, as how can anyone finesse their annual pension input if they don t know if their March pension will credit their account before the 5th April etc.

If you are just on the minimum AE pension input, it is still your money that they are sitting on, but the issue is greater if you are sacrificing larger amounts (in percentage terms).

In a rising market, you may also miss out on growth, but market timing is of course another minefield so probably not worth majoring on that aspect.

[FreeLitres]

So if they don't pay into the pension by 5th April (2nd April to avoid weekends/BH) does that mess up my tax return?

[Josemartinez]

I would speak to the pensions regulator, a letter from them would soon kick their arse into gear.

I've worked in payroll for 18 years and don't think it's fair they are sitting on it as you say it could be having an impact on your returns.

As I was reading your post I was thinking they are having issues financially but you say they are doing well financially so that just smacks to me of someone not doing their job properly.

Our payroll software automatically sends the pension data to the provider who take the contributions by direct debit a week or so later so we don't even have to do anything although not all would have this.

Edited to add I didn't see your post about missing the tax year cut off. For my personal tax return I base it on the payslip date rather than the payment to the pension provider date so I would include it as you can say it was deducted in the year and is on your payslips. I'm not 100% sure this is correct but it makes sense to me.

Edited by Josemartinez on Wednesday 1st April 23:24

[alscar]

I think my first step would be to contact HR as presumably it isn't just you they are being tardy with.
Then if no joy escalate to your Manager.

[dirky dirk]

Mine are doing this.
I’m quite annoyed.
To me it should go in when it’s taken out of our wages
It’s a month behind and even more insulting is they pay 3%
While telling everyone how wonderful we are being an eob

[silencepoint]

I had this happen. Contributions were late and inconsistent for at least 8 months before it was resolved. In my case they were actually paying an extra ~25% uplift to cover tax which I didn't actually qualify to receive, but shortly afterwards they made about 35% of staff redundant, so it was probably an early warning sign that things internally weren’t running smoothly.

[thekingisdead]

This is covered by the Ombudsman

https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/documen...

Does say the regulator doesn't want to know until it's 90+ days late. Which seems a bit odd to me. It's either later after 19 or 22 days or not.

Maybe start with HR?

[LordGrover]

Ours is paid every month, but it hits my pension pot one month later. No idea why, but I’ve been told it’s normal. Makes me wonder where my money is in that time.

[Inspire]

Ok, so I used to deal with this regularly. Complaining to the Pensions Regulator will simply result in your complaint being passed to the Ombudsman.

From experience, the delay in paying across pension contributions could well be due to your Employer having financial difficulties ie. they deduct the contributions from your pay but instead of paying across the contributions to your pension fund use it to help keep the company afloat.

You need to complain to your Employer formally in writing. You need to tell them to put you back in the position you would have been in had the contributions been paid across promptly to your pension fund. As part of this, your Employer will need to speak to your pension fund to understand how unit prices might have moved. If you get nowhere with this, you then need to complain to the Pensions Ombudsman who, assuming they find in your favour, will direct the Employer to put you back in the position you should have been in. This Direction can be enforced in a County Court if need be.

Link to Pensions Ombudsman’s website:

pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint


Good luck

[48k]

FreeLitres said:

(UK company, around 100 employees, generally doing quite well financially FYI)

I would say companies that are doing well financially dont miss pension payments.

[_Rodders_]

48k said:

FreeLitres said:

(UK company, around 100 employees, generally doing quite well financially FYI)

I would say companies that are doing well financially dont miss pension payments.

Is there another reasonable explanation?

I don't know but can't think of anything more likely.

[northandy]

My last employer was really poor, often late sometimes 2 months late

I raised it with hr and my manager several times, nothing really changed.

They were sound financially but anything payroll related was just poor… I just left in the end

[ralphrj]

_Rodders_ said:

48k said:

FreeLitres said:

(UK company, around 100 employees, generally doing quite well financially FYI)

I would say companies that are doing well financially dont miss pension payments.

Is there another reasonable explanation?

I don't know but can't think of anything more likely.

I wouldn't rule out incompetence.

[ralphrj]

LordGrover said:

Ours is paid every month, but it hits my pension pot one month later. No idea why, but I ve been told it s normal. Makes me wonder where my money is in that time.

It will be in your employers bank account and this is totally normal.

Employers are required to pay the PAYE/National Insurance to HMRC and pension contributions to the pension provider by the 22nd of the month following the month in which salaries were paid.

Your employer delaying payment until it is required is standard cash flow management.

[The Leaper]

FreeLitres said:

My employer used to pay into my works pension like clockwork every pay day. Over the last 9 months, they have started getting a bit slack with the pension payments. They often miss a month, then do a double payment, then miss the next month, etc.

It's getting worse in 2026. So far this year, they missed the pension payment in January, did a single payment in February and have just skipped March. I have tried raising this with accounts, but I'm getting fobbed off - they are too busy, accounts staff shortages, etc.

I'm particularly annoyed right now as I was hoping to get my missing contributions in while the markets were down. It's a decent sum of money due in.

Do they have a legal obligation to pay into the pension scheme in a timely manner? Anything I can do, or is this normal?

(UK company, around 100 employees, generally doing quite well financially FYI)

OP,

I was a volunteer complaints investigator at the office of The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) for over 30 years until a year ago. The issue you have raised if you take it through the formal complaints procedure (see below) is for the TPO, not the Pensions Regulator.

Unfortunately, the issue you have raised is very commonplace and there are many employers who fail to meet the deadline of 22 days for remittance of employee and employer contributions to the provider. If you look at TPO’s website and the decisions pages, you’ll see that the Pensions Ombudsman himself has made many determinations in favour of the employee/complainant. Determinations by the Pensions Ombudsman have the force of law (unlike other ombudsmen’s’ decisions that do not).

The formal complaints procedure changed about 18 months ago and is now as follows:

• In general, all pensions schemes must by law have a formal complaints procedure, a copy of which must be available to all the scheme members.

• An employee who has concerns with any pension issue should start by raising the issue with the appropriate person (Pensions Manager, HR or similar) and seek an informal acceptable resolution of the issue.

• If there is no acceptable informal resolution, the employee needs to consider using the formal complains procedure which, typically is in several stages.

• The first stage is for the employee to put in writing the details of the complaint and send it to the proscribed person for a decision. That person will investigate the complaint and make a decision. If the decision is not acceptable to the employee, the employee can move on to stage 2.

• Stage 2 is very similar to stage 1, but the formal complaint will be investigated by someone with more pension responsibility such as the trustees. If the decision is not acceptable to the employee, the employee can move the formal complaint on to the next stage.

• The next stage will require the employee to take the formal complaint to TPO for their investigation. TPO will now only take on a complaint once the preceding stages 1 &2 have been used. The best way to start is to send a letter to TPO with details of the complaint and copies of all the correspondence etc. Assuming TPO takes on the case, it will be thoroughly investigated with both sides being contacted as appropriate.

• At the end of the investigations, the Pensions Ombudsman will make a decision, called a determination. The determination will set out the decision, and if the complaint is upheld, it will set out and any actions to be taken and any financial redress to be paid and by which party, usually the employer in cases such as the OP’s. As I mentioned earlier, the Pensions Ombudsman’s determinations are legally binding

• If the employer does not accept the determination, the employer can take the matter to the Courts for a review or the Pensions Ombudsman's determination, and a decision by the Court.

I hope this helps, OP.

R.

[Countdown]

LordGrover said:

Ours is paid every month, but it hits my pension pot one month later. No idea why, but I ve been told it s normal. Makes me wonder where my money is in that time.

To explain why it's usually a month or so late;

1. It's normal.
2. It takes payroll/Finance a few days to balance all the reconciliations, make any adjustments for people joining/leaving, and submit the return to the Pension provider.
3. There's normally an agreed Direct Debit date with the pension provider so that everybody knows when the money will be going across. (managing cashflow is important for all companies)
4. Of all the issues that a Finance team is dealing with the date of the pension payments are way down the list of importance as long as it's being done at least once a month

[gotoPzero]

_Rodders_ said:

48k said:

FreeLitres said:

(UK company, around 100 employees, generally doing quite well financially FYI)

I would say companies that are doing well financially dont miss pension payments.

Is there another reasonable explanation?

I don't know but can't think of anything more likely.

It would ring *massive* alarm bells for me. I don't care what they say in public - there is a high chance there is a serious cash flow issue.

[The Leaper]

Countdown said:

To explain why it's usually a month or so late;

1. It's normal.
2. It takes payroll/Finance a few days to balance all the reconciliations, make any adjustments for people joining/leaving, and submit the return to the Pension provider.
3. There's normally an agreed Direct Debit date with the pension provider so that everybody knows when the money will be going across. (managing cashflow is important for all companies)
4. Of all the issues that a Finance team is dealing with the date of the pension payments are way down the list of importance as long as it's being done at least once a month

I would say that late payment of contributions (beyond the 22 days allowed) should not be regarded as normal, whatever the size of the employer's business. Failure to pay by the deadline is in breach of the law.

Such failure begs the question: who has benefitted by the interest earned on the sum of the contributions? If you look for the Pensions Ombudsman's website and look up recent decisions, many are about failure to pay contributions by the deadline. If after investigation of a formal complaint The Pension Ombudsman decides that the complaint is upheld, he usually instructs as follows:

• The amount o/s is calculated, if not already known, and paid to the appropriate party, often the provider of the investment facility, by the employer.
• The provider calculates the amount of the lost interest by the late payment of the contributions and informs the employer of the amount.
• The employer pays the lost interest
• The Pensions Ombudsman also awards an amount for redress for non financial injustice, typically about £1000, paid by the employer to the employee.
• The Pensions Ombudsman will set a timescale, usually quite short, for all the above to be completed by.

R.

[Countdown]

The Leaper said:

I would say that late payment of contributions (beyond the 22 days allowed) should not be regarded as normal, whatever the size of the employer's business. Failure to pay by the deadline is in breach of the law.

AIUI the deadline is the same as the NI/Tax one? We run our payroll on the 22nd, which is why (in my head at least!) we have a month to process all the stat payments including pensions.