Commentary on Sections Scheme funding Section 228: Failure to make payments
829.This section applies where an amount payable in accordance with the schedule of contributions by or on behalf of the employer or an active scheme member is not paid on time. Subsection (2) imposes a requirement on the scheme’s trustees or managers, to report to the Regulator and the members the failure to make the payment, but only if they have reasonable cause to believe that the failure is likely to be of material significance to the Regulator in the exercise of its functions. This subsection also includes a power to prescribe circumstances in which the requirement to notify the Regulator will not apply.
830.Subsection (3) ensures that the amount of the unpaid contributions shall be treated as a debt on the employer to the trustees or managers, where this would not otherwise be the case.
831.Subsection (4) provides for civil penalties to apply to a trustee or manager, an actuary or auditor, who fails to report to the Regulator a material failure to make a payment to the scheme; and an employer who fails to make a payment.
832.Subsection (5) makes it clear that these provisions also apply to payments due under a schedule of contributions which has been imposed by the Regulator (under section 231).