How to fix submit pension contribution errors

Summary

How to fix pension contribution errors when submitting to NEST Pension in Sage Payroll.

Resolution

If you receive an error when you submit your pension contributions to Nest Pensions, use the steps below to help fix the issue.

We've provided an explanation for each error message, to help you understand the terminology Nest Pensions uses.

Detailed steps are listed to explain the cause of each error, and how to resolve them.

A glossary of common terms can also be found in this article.

Before you start

You may need to log into the Nest Pensions portal to compare employee information. We would recommend having login details to hand.

NOTE: When you compare any details between Sage Payroll and Nest Pensions, they must be identical. This includes capital letters, lower case letters, special characters, leading or trailing spaces.

To find the full error message:

Select Summary.
From the AutoEnrolment / Pensions section, locate the failed submission, then select View Submission Details.

NEST submit pension contribution errors

An error occurred while creating submission files. Please try again later. If the problem persists, please contact customer support

This error can be caused by your NEST credentials being entered incorrectly, or if a change was made to your NEST login email address.

Your NEST credentials are the login details for the NEST website portal.
To check your credentials, log into the NEST website (opens in a new tab).

If you can't log into the NEST website, speak to NEST to find out why the login is not working.

If you can log into the NEST website, re-enter your login details into Sage Payroll. This is done during the submission process:

Select Summary.
In the Auto Enrolment / Pensions section select View submission details.
Select Submit Online.
In the Enter your NEST login details screen delete and re-type your Username and Password, then select Submit.

If the same error message appears, or if you have changed your login email address please contact us so we can update the login details on our systems.

The account credentials were not accepted by the provider. Please check them and try again

This error can be caused by your NEST credentials being entered incorrectly, or if a change was made to your NEST login email address.

Your NEST credentials are the login details for the NEST website portal.
To check your credentials, log into the NEST website (opens in a new tab).

If you can't log into the NEST website, speak to NEST to find out why the login is not working.

If you can log into the NEST website, re-enter your login details into Sage Payroll. This is done during the submission process:

Select Summary.
In the Auto Enrolment / Pensions section select View submission details.
Select Submit Online.
In the Enter your NEST login details screen delete and re-type your User name and Password, then select Submit.

If the same message appears, or if you have changed your login email address please contact us, so we can update the login details on our systems.

You must provide a valid header or trailer record. Please ensure the payment source and frequency are correct, and that the payment due date is in the correct format - it should match an existing contribution schedule on the system. Please check your data and try again

You need to check the contribution file you are uploading.

The NEST header and trailer records refer to multiple parts of the pension contribution file you are trying to upload to NEST. You will need to compare the payment source name and group name you created on the NEST Portal against the names they have in Sage Payroll.

If the names don’t match exactly, you will need to change them in Sage Payroll.

To check this in NEST:

Log into the NEST website (opens in a new tab).
Select Manage Payment Sources then Your Payment sources to find the payment source names you've created.
Select Manage Groups then Your Groups to find the group names you've created.

To check and amend the payment source and group names in Sage Payroll:

Select Pensions.
Select Edit pension.
To make a change select View /Edit.

If you have multiple groups set up in Sage Payroll, you will also need to check each employee, to make sure they are assigned to the correct group:

Select Employees.
Select the Employee name to open their record.
Select Workplace pensions.

The group name will appear in the Pension planfield.
If you need to change the pension details, select Edit. Once you've made the changes select Save.

You can then re-try the submission. To do this select Summary then View submission details and then Submit Online.

If the same error appears after you've completed these steps, the contribution schedule on NEST does not match the schedule that Sage Payroll is submitting.

To fix this, speak to NEST to change the frequency on their portal to 'tax weekly' or 'tax monthly' instead of weekly or monthly.

There were no schemes retrieved from your pension provider. Check the details and try again

This error means some of the pension scheme details in Sage Payroll (usually the Employer Reference) do not match those on NEST.

To change these in Sage Payroll:

Select Pensions.
Find your NEST pension and select Edit Pension.

The Employer Reference needs to be identical to the NEST employer ID.

Group Name was not included because the associated pay period is set up incorrectly. Pay periods must align to tax periods. Please update the group information in your provider portal

The pay frequency set in Sage Payroll is different to the pay frequency set up with NEST.

This error means the frequency selected on your group on NEST doesn’t match the pay frequency you are using in Sage Payroll. When the periods Sage Payroll is submitting, don't match to a frequency on the NEST portal the information cannot be accepted by NEST.

To fix this, set up a new group on NEST with a frequency that matches Sage Payroll.

Sage Payroll pay frequency	Frequency to select on NEST
Weekly	Tax Weekly
Monthly	Tax Monthly
2-Weekly	Fortnightly
4-Weekly	Four Weekly

If you are using 2-Weekly or 4-weekly you need to make sure that you have the contribution schedule set up on NEST to match the dates that Sage Payroll is trying to submit.

To see what Sage Payroll is submitting:

From Pay Runs select the pay run you need to submit.
In the Pension submissions section select View Submission Details.
You will see the Pay reference period dates (from and to) above the list of employee contributions.

NEST has produced guidance to set up your new groups on their portal with the payment frequencies of Tax Weekly and Tax Monthly. If you have any queries about this process, please contact NEST directly or you can access this guidance on the NEST website (opens in a new tab).

Once you have set up the new group on NEST with the correct pay frequency, change the group name in Sage Payroll so it matches the new group you have set up:

Select Pensions then select Edit Pension.
To edit the group name select View/ Edit.
Change the name to be identical to the new group you set up on NEST, this includes capital letters, lower case letters, spaces and special characters.

You've already enrolled this member using this enrolment type. If you enrolled this member before and their enrolment status has changed then please choose the appropriate enrolment type and try again

This error occurs when the submission you are sending includes an enrolment file with an employee who has already been enrolled on NEST.

NEST do not accept a submission that duplicates something that has already been done.

To fix this, manually submit the affected pay run contributions file to NEST using the steps below:

In Sage Payroll, select Pay runs then select the pay run for the failed submission.
Select View Submission Error or View Submission Details.
On the right-hand side of the screen select Manage Pension File.
Select Regenerate CSV File. This will download a zipped folder onto your computer.
Locate the downloaded folder and unzip it.

There are two files in this folder; the enrolment file and the contribution file.

You only need to upload the contribution file to NEST.
To upload the file from Sage Payroll Select Manage Pension File and then Open NEST Portal followed by Manage Contribution Schedule.

Once you have successfully uploaded the file to NEST, go back to Sage Payroll and select Manage Pension File, and then select Confirm CSV Upload.

This marks the submission as having been done manually and clears the error message.

The scheme joined date cannot be in the future

This means an employee is enrolling in a pension scheme but their enrolment date is in the future.

For example, if you were doing this on 28 April 2021 but the employees’ enrolment date is 1st May 2023, the submission cannot be accepted before the 1st May 2023.

To fix this, wait until the date specified in the error before you submit this pension contribution data to NEST.

The opt out ref number is missing

This means an employee has already opted out of the pension, but has not provided an opt out reference number.

The Opt out reference number is found on the notice to opt out of pension saving form that the member submitted to NEST.
If your employee opts out of the pension using the NEST online system, the submission should include their opt out reference number.

The steps to resolve the error depend on whether you have the opt out reference number.

To clear this error, you can follow the steps below:

If you have the opt out reference, you can edit the pay run in Sage Payroll to add the reference.

Select Pay Runs, then select the relevant pay run you are trying to submit to NEST.
Select Edit Pay Run.
Select the employee you need to add the reference to and select Manage Enrolment then Opt Out / Leave (you may need to scroll down to see this option if you have a lot of payments and deductions for this employee).
In the Did the employee opt-out using a NEST paper Form? option, Select Yes and fill in the opt out reference.
Select Opt Out.

Resubmit the pension file by selecting Summary then View submission details then Submit Online.

If you do not have the opt out reference, to use the steps below to manually submit this period to the NEST portal using a CSV file.

In Sage Payroll select Pay Runs, then select the relevant pay run you are trying to submit to NEST.
Select Summary then View submission details.
Select Manage Pension File, then select Regenerate CSV file.

This will download the CSV File you need.
To upload the file to NEST, select Manage Pension File and then open NEST portal.

You will need to speak to NEST for the steps needed to upload the file.

The Additional Data Group Name is missing

This error means employees have been assigned to a pension scheme during the pay run and there is information missing from the pension scheme.

To add the missing details:

Select Pay Runs and choose the relevant pay run, then select Edit Pay Run.
For each employee that is assigned to the pension, select Manage Enrolment and in the drop-down menu select Change Pension Scheme.
Change the Pension Scheme, Pension Plan, and Payment source from Default to the correct Pension Scheme, Plan, and Payment source that the employee is assigned to, then select Save.
Once that is done for all employees on the pension scheme select Next and then View Summary.
Resubmit the pension details to NEST by selecting Summary then View submission details then Submit Online.

This member doesn't belong on this schedule. Please check that they've been enrolled and are still an active member. Also check if they're in a different group or payment source to the workers on this schedule

This error means an employee is assigned to a specific group in Sage Payroll, but on NEST they are assigned to a different group.

The employee has to be assigned to the correct group on both systems.

If you need to change the details on the NEST Portal, speak to NEST to move the employee from one group to another.

Once the employee has been moved to the correct group, you can resubmit the pension contribution data from Sage Payroll.

If you need to change the details in Sage Payroll:

Select Pay Runs then select the relevant pay run you are trying to submit to NEST.
Select Edit Pay run.
Select the employee, and then Manage Enrolment.
Choose Change Pension Scheme.
Check the Pension Scheme, Pension Plan and Payment source are correct. If required, change them to match the details held on the NEST portal, then select Save.

An error occurred while generating the pension submission. The names of the pension groups attached to your employees do not match the groups set up with NEST. Please ensure that the group details are recorded correctly and are attached to the employees in this pay run before attempting to resubmit

This means the pension groups for your employee in Sage Payroll don't match the groups set up with NEST.

Use the steps below to check the group details on both systems are identical and are correctly attached to the employees in this pay run, then resubmit the data to NEST.

To check and amend the group names in Sage Payroll:

Select Pensions then select Edit pension.
To make a change select View /Edit.

To check this in NEST:

Log into the NEST portal and select Manage Groups.
Amend the groups if needed.
Select Manage Payment Sources.
For each employee that is assigned to the pension, select Manage Enrolment and then Change Pension Scheme.
Check the Pension Scheme, Pension Plan, and Payment source are correct.
Select Save.

Once this is done for all employees who are part of this pension scheme and are being paid in this pay run, resubmit the pension contribution data to NEST. In Sage Payroll select Summary then View submission details and click Submit Online.

Internal Server Error

This error means we were unable to contact NEST.

Use the steps below to refresh and resubmit your data:

Select Pay Runs and then select the pay run you are trying to submit.
Select Edit Pay Run.
For each employee that is assigned to the pension, select Manage Enrolment then Change Pension Scheme.
Change the Pension Scheme, Pension Plan, and Payment source from Default to the exact Pension Scheme, Plan, and Payment source that the employee is assigned to.
Select Save.

You can now resubmit the pension details to NEST by selecting Summary then View submission details then Submit Online.

If you receive the same error message, contact our support team so we can update these details on our systems.

If you do not see the error you are experiencing visit the NEST website to view a further list of errors (opens in a new tab).

Submit pension contributions glossary

A list of common terms used by Nest Pensions, with an explanation of what each term means.

Terminology	Explanation
Contribution file	Files that contain details of the pension contributions your employees’ make from their pay. You need to upload these to your pension provider each pay period.
Contribution schedule	Files are created for every combination of tax period, group and payment source. Contribution files include employees who opt out of a pension scheme.
ERN (Employer Reference Number)	Your ERN (Employer Reference Number, sometimes called an Employer Reference) is a unique set of numbers and letters used by HMRC to identify employers in the UK When you register as an employer with HMRC, you receive the ERN in your welcome pack.
Enrolment status and Enrolment types	Each type of worker has their own enrolment type. NEST use an enrolment code to identify the type of worker when you enrol them: AE – eligible jobholders OPTIN – non-eligible jobholders WWQE – workers without qualifying earnings, also known as entitled workers VOLUNTARY – voluntary workers OTHERS – Other types of worker You need to tell NEST the enrolment type of each worker when you enrol them.
Group	When you enrol your workers into a NEST pension scheme you’ll assign them to a group. Groups are made up of workers who share: A pay period, also known as an earnings period A contribution rate and earnings basis When setting up a group with NEST, how often you’ll pay contributions and the date you’ll pay them by.
Header or trailer record	The header and trailer are different sections of the contribution files you upload to your pension provider. The header contains (amongst other things) details of the NEST Employer ID, the relevant pay period, the payment source and the pay frequency of the employees. The trailer contains the group name for your pension scheme from Sage Payroll. These fields have to match exactly with the details on the NEST portal.
Member enrolment file	Files containing any new employees enrolled for the relevant pay reference period, and personal information about the employees NEST need to enrol the onto the pension scheme. These files are generated when you reach your staging date, or if you have new employees eligible to enrol in the pension scheme. Enrolment files need to be uploaded before you upload a Contribution file.
NEST credentials	Login details for the NEST website portal.
NEST employer ID	A unique reference number that’s associated with your organisation - for example EMP000123456. This is case sensitive so make sure to use EMP and not emp when you enter this number anywhere in your account. If you set up more than one scheme in NEST, for example one for each subsidiary organisation, then these will each have their own NEST employer IDs.
NEST delegate ID	An ID specific to the individual using the NESTaccount. When you register for a NEST account and log in for the first time you’ll be given a NEST delegate ID.
Opt out reference number	This reference is found on the notice to opt out of pension saving form, that the member submits to NEST.
PAPDIS	PAPDIS (Payroll And Pension Data Interface Standard) is an open standard report, designed to help payroll systems transfer information to pension providers.
Pay reference period	Pay reference periods are aligned to HMRC tax periods. Tax months run from the 6th of a month and ends on the 5th of the following month. When you set up a pension scheme with your provider, advise them that your pay reference periods are aligned to tax periods.
Payment Schedule	Payment schedules show what you’ll pay your workers and by when. You’ll see your payment schedule on the NEST portal, when you complete the setup. NEST will send a message to your secure NEST mailbox confirming what you’ve agreed, with a copy of your payment schedule attached. A payment schedule is a legally binding document that details the contributions you’ve agreed to pay to meet your legal duties. You’ll receive a payment schedule to summarise the group settings for every group of workers in your NEST pension schemes.
Payment source	A payment source shows how you’re going to make contribution payments to NEST. You can choose to pay by Direct Debit or debit card. The bank or building society details you use to pay contributions will be used by NEST to send any refunds to you.
Staging date	Your staging date is the latest date by which you have to have an auto-enrolment scheme in place for your employees.

How to fix submit pension contribution errors - Nest Pensions