Fix pension errors - Nest Pensions
Summary
Description
If you get an error when you submit your pension contributions to Nest Pensions, use the steps below to help fix the issue.
Things to consider:
- The terminology used is Nest terminology, not Sages
- Nest generates the errors at the time of the transmission
- Where possible, we list detailed steps to explain the cause of each error, and how to resolve them
- Depending on the nature of the error, we can advise you to contact Sage support directly
- You can check the Nest pension submission glossary for more details on the terms used
Resolution
Before you start
We recommend having your Nest login details to hand.
NOTE: When comparing details between 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 menu bar.
-
From the Auto Enrolment/Pensions section, select View Submission Errors.
NEST pension contribution errors
There has been an error with the data we’re submitting to Nest for you.
This error message is due to incorrect Nest credentials within Payroll.
This error message is due to incorrect Nest credentials within Payroll.
This member cannot be enrolled with this enrolment type. If you still want to enrol this member please select a different enrolment type and try again
In this case, the employee already has this same enrolment type against their record in the Nest portal.
The payment source name, payment date and group name you created on the Nest Portal don't match Sage Payroll.
The pension scheme details in Sage Payroll don’t match those on Nest.
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 from the pay frequency set up with Nest.
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
The submission you’re sending includes an Enrolment file, but the employee has already enrolled with Nest.
This means an employee is enrolling in a pension scheme but their enrolment date is in the future.
An employee has already opted out of the pension, but hasn’t provided an opt out reference number.
This error means there’s information missing from the pension scheme some employees are members of.
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
You've assigned and employee to a specific group in Sage Payroll, but assigned to a different group in Nest.
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
The pension groups for your employee in Sage Payroll don't match the groups set up with Nest.
This National Insurance number has been used for another active worker in your account. Please check the National Insurance number you're using for this new enrolment. Alternatively, to find and correct the existing worker's details go to 'Manage workers' and search for this NI number
The National Insurance (NI) number for a new employee matches the one that Nest already has in use.
This error means we were unable to contact Nest.
Related Solutions
Solution Properties
- Solution ID
- 222001000101501
- Last Modified Date
- Wed Feb 04 12:45:58 UTC 2026
- Views
- 0