D&G Property and Investment Ltd v The Pensions Regulator [2026] UKFTT 1085 (GRC)

NCN[2026] UKFTT 01085 (GRC) Case Reference: FT/PEN/2025/0218

First-tier Tribunal

(General Regulatory Chamber)

Date 24 July 2026

Pensions

Decided without a hearing

Before

JUDGE DWYER

JUDGE ARNELL

Between

D&G Property and investment ltdAppellant

THE PENSIONS REGULATORRespondent

Decision: The reference is dismissed and the matter is remitted to the Pensions Regulator. The Fixed Penalty Notice is confirmed.

REASONS

Background

[1]By this reference, D&G Property and Investment Ltd (“the Employer”), challenges a Fixed Penalty Notice (Notice Number: AE2500309-001532) (“the FPN”) issued by the Pensions Regulator (“the Regulator”) on 30 May 2025.

[2]The FPN was issued to the Employer by the Regulator, pursuant to section 40 of the Pensions Act 2008. The FPN required the Employer to pay a financial penalty of £400 for failing to comply with an Unpaid Contributions Notice issued on 02 April 2025 pursuant to sections 37 and 38 of the Pensions Act 2008 (“the UCN”).

[3]The Parties requested this reference be decided without a hearing. The Tribunal has the benefit of both Parties’ submissions and evidence. Having reviewed the same, we do not consider further information is required from either party in order to make an informed decision. We are therefore satisfied that we can properly determine the issues without a hearing in accordance with Rule 32 (1)(b) of The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009.

[4]We have been provided with a Bundle spanning 168 numbered pages. Whilst it is our intention to refer only to the relevant facts and evidence necessary to explain our Decision, the Parties can nevertheless be assured we have considered and had due regard to the full contents of the Bundle.

The Facts

[5]The Regulator received notification from the Employer’s pension provider, The Peoples Pension (“TPP”), that contributions due between 22 October 2024 and 22 January 2025 had not been paid.

[6]The Regulator notified the Employer, by email on 28 February 2026, that they had received a late payment report from TPP in relation to the unpaid contributions and requested information from the Employer relating to this by no later than 11 March 2025.

[7]There is a lengthy history of correspondence between the Employer, the Employer’s nominated accountant, the Regulator and TPP which we do not intend to set out in full. The Regulator provides a detailed chronology of this correspondence at paragraphs 10 to 36 inclusive of their Response. The chronology is not contested, save for in relation to the email of 14 November 2024 from TPP to the Employer’s nominated accountant (“the November 2024 email”) which the Employer states they have been advised was not received.

[8]The Employer does not deny that the relevant contributions were outstanding albeit there is a query as the total amount of contributions.

[9]Further correspondence took place between the Regulator and the Employer with the Employer requesting proof of payment for the unpaid contributions by no later than 31 March 2025.

[10]The Employer did not provide the proof of payment to the Regulator. The Regulator issued the UCN on 02 April 2025 (sent to the Employer by email on 03 April 2025), in relation to unpaid contributions due between 22 October 2024 and 22 February 2024, with a deadline of 14 May 2025 to calculate the number of unpaid contributions, contact TPP and pay the contributions, and provide evidence of compliance to the Regulator.

[11]On 13 May 2025 the Employer sent an email to the Regulator advising that they had completed a direct debit mandate for outstanding and future payments which had been sent to TPP and attaching a copy of the same.

[12]On 14 May 2025 the Regulator replied to the Employer and advised that a direct debit mandate was not proof of payment, requesting screenshots of payments made and extending time to provide evidence of compliance to 29 May 2025. As the Employer failed to provide evidence of payment by that date and thus to comply with the UCN, the Regulator issued the FPN on 30 May 2025.

[13]Although no review of the FPN was requested by the Employer, the Regulator carried out a review of its own volition. On the 12 August 2025, the Regulator informed the Employer that they would be conducting a review and invited them to provide evidence of payments made by the Employer to TPP by 27 August 2025. On 18 August 2025, the Employer provided submissions and evidence in support of their submissions to the Regulator. The Regulator provided a review outcome to the Employer on 27 August 2025 in which the Regulator confirmed the FPN. The Employer referred the matter to the Tribunal on 22 September 2025.

[14]On the 18 September 2025 the Regulator issued an Escalating Penalty Notice to the Employer under section 41 of the Pensions Act 2008. However, the Escalating Penalty Notice has been suspended pending the outcome of this reference. For the sake of clarity this reference relates only to the FPN and will not consider the Escalating Penalty Notice.

The Law

[15]The Pensions Act 2008 (“the 2008 Act”) imposes a number of legal obligations on employers in relation to the automatic enrolment of certain ‘jobholders’ into occupational or workplace personal pension schemes. These obligations include a duty to pay contributions to a qualifying pension scheme under section 3 of the 2008 Act. An employer must regularly and periodically pay its own and its employees’ contributions to the managers or trustee of the relevant pension scheme.

[16]The Regulator has statutory responsibility for securing compliance with these obligations and may exercise certain enforcement powers. If the Regulator is of the opinion that an employer has failed to pay relevant contributions by the due date it may issue an Unpaid Contributions Notice pursuant to sections 37 and 38 of the 2008 Act. An Unpaid Contributions Notice may require an employer, by a specified date, to calculate the contributions owing, pay the outstanding contributions and provide evidence to the Regulator that it has done so.

[17]If the Regulator is of the view that a person has failed to comply with (amongst other things) an Unpaid Contributions Notice, it may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice to that person, pursuant to Section 40 of the 2008 Act, in the sum of £400.

[18]Section 43 of the 2008 Act provides that the Regulator may review a Fixed Penalty Notice on the written application of the person to whom it was issued or if the Regulator otherwise considers it appropriate. Under section 44 of the 2008 Act, a person to whom a Fixed Penalty Notice has been issued may make a reference to the Tribunal, provided that a review under section 43 of the 2008 Act has been carried out or an application for such a review has been made to the Regulator.

[19]The Tribunal’s role upon receipt of a reference is set out in section 103 of the Pensions Act 2004. The Tribunal’s powers in determining a reference are very wide and it must make its own decision on the appropriate action for the Regulator to take, considering the evidence before it, whether or not it was available to the Regulator at the material time. The Tribunal may confirm, vary or revoke a Fixed Penalty Notice and when it reaches a decision, must remit the matter to the Regulator with such directions (if any) as required to give effect to its decision. The Tribunal can reach a different decision to that of the Regulator, even if the original decision fell within the range of reasonable decisions. As confirmed in Pensions Regulator v Strathmore Medical Practice

[2018] UKUT 104 (AAC)

it is proper to take into account a “reasonable excuse” for compliance failures.

Pleadings

[20]The Employer’s Notice of Appeal confirms they are seeking revocation of the FPN. They rely on five grounds which can be summarised as follows:a. There were inconsistencies in the outstanding balances quoted by the Regulator and TPP;

b. Prior to November 2024 they had a direct debit in place to make the necessary payments to TPP. The dates of payments taken by direct debit fluctuated. They did not cancel the Direct Debit mandate and their nominated accountant has advised them that TPP “unilaterally cancelled” the direct debit “without notice”.

c. Their nominated accountant did not receive the email from TPP dated 14 November 2026 and they were not aware of the unpaid contributions until 28 February 2025.

d. A new Direct Debit Mandate was provided to TPP on 01 May 2025 and 13 May 2025 and as such it is TPP’s responsibility to execute the Direct Debit and deduct a payment for the outstanding contributions. They were unable to provide proof of payment to the Regulator until TPP had done this.

e. They maintain that they have taken every reasonable step to address the outstanding balance prior to the issuing of the FPN.

[21]Further, in their Reply the Employer restated and expanded on the above points and submitted that on 11 November 2025 they made a payment to TPP by bank transfer satisfying the outstanding amounts.

[22]The Regulator opposes the reference. Their position is that the Employer’s grounds of appeal do not amount to a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the requirements of the UCN. The Employer has a statutory responsibility to comply with the UCN. The Employer is responsible for ensuring an appropriate method of payment is in place for contributions and they are paid, not the Regulator nor TPP. They made repeated attempts to assist the Employer in achieving compliance, including extending the deadline for compliance with the UCN prior to issuing the FPN. They submit it was reasonable and proportionate for them to issue the FPN.

Discussion and Conclusions

[23]Careful consideration has been given as to whether the Employer has demonstrated a reasonable excuse for non-compliance with the UCN.

[24]The Employer has stated their nominated accountant did not receive the November 2024 email informing them of the direct debit cancellation. We note this amounts to a bare assertion as the Employer has not provided any evidence of this by way of a statement from their nominated accountant. They further state they were therefore not aware of the unpaid contributions until they received an email from the Regulator informing them of this on 28 February 2025. They submit they had not realised payments had been missed as the payment dates were sporadic, ranging between one and three months, and have provided a bank statement in support of this.

[25]We accept the payment dates were not entirely regular and it is possible, if the November 2024 email was not received by or communicated to them by their nominated accountant, the Employer may not have been aware of the unpaid contributions until 28 February 2025. Therefore, a reasonable excuse for non-payment may have existed up to 28 February 2025. This finding however has no bearing on our overall decision as this reference concerns the FPN issued as a result of non-compliance with the UPN and both notices were issued after 28 February 2025.

[26]The Employer submits they were informed by their accountant that the direct debit in place to make contributions was cancelled by TPP. It is not necessary for us to make a finding of fact as to why the direct debit payments ceased at this time as, upon being made aware, either by the November 2024 email or the Regulator’s email to the Employer of 28 February 2025, the Employer was on notice that they did not have an appropriate method of payment in place for contributions as per their statutory obligations and failed to take appropriate steps to remedy this.

[27]We are satisfied the UCN set out clearly the three steps that the Employer was required to take and gave adequate time for compliance. Further, the Regulator took a pragmatic approach to assist the Employer to achieve compliance with the UCN by allowing further time for evidence of compliance to be provided prior to the FPN being issued.

[28]We are not satisfied that providing a copy of a direct debit mandate was sufficient to evidence compliance with the UCN. The Regulator advised the Employer that a signed direct debit mandate is not proof of payment and explained what evidence would be required to demonstrate compliance on 14 May 2025 and as above allowed further time for the Employer to provide the same beyond the deadline within the UCN. The Employer failed to provide the required evidence within the extended deadline. Further the Regulator has provided evidence by way of an email from TPP dated 17 October 2025, in which they confirm to the Regulator that the Employer had not, up to that date, provided a direct debit mandate to TPP. Attached to the email of 17 October 2025 was a statement of account showing the contributions remained outstanding as of that date.

[29]The legislation places the responsibility firmly on the Employer to ensure compliance. Whilst the Employer states attempts were made to obtain BACS details from TPP to facilitate payment, including a call on 31 July 2025, we have seen no evidence of the Employer attempting to obtain these details prior to the issuing of the FPN. We find on the evidence that the Employer had been provided with the relevant BACS details at the latest by 13 May 2026. The email from TTP to the Employer’s nominated accountant of this date clearly shows an attachment entitled “BACS LETTER”.

[30]Whilst the Employer has stated that all outstanding unpaid contributions for the relevant period have been paid by bank transfer on 11 November 2025, they have provided no evidence of this. In any event, even if the Tribunal were satisfied that payment had been made on that date, late compliance does not excuse previous non-compliance. The intended deterrent effect of penalty notices would be significantly diminished if notices were subsequently revoked once compliance was eventually achieved.

[31]For the above reasons, we are satisfied that the Employer has not demonstrated a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the requirements of the Unpaid Contributions Notice. We conclude that issuing the FPN was the appropriate action for the Regulator to take in this case. As such we confirm the FPN and remit the matter back to the Regulator. It is not necessary for us to make any directions.