The idea of losing track of your hard-earned cash might sound unfathomable, yet an estimated 4.8 million British pension pots are currently “missing”.
This is according to analysis conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) on behalf of pension provider PensionBee, which found almost one in 10 workers believe they have misplaced a pot worth £10,000 or more.
Overall, the amount of retirement money now estimated to be lost in the system stands at around a huge £50bn.
With each lost pot, there’s a risk you may be losing track of money that could help fund your retirement, so it’s vital to track them down.
Tracing old pensions from years ago may feel like a hassle, but there are simple steps to help you do so.
Here, Telegraph Money explains the following:
- Have I lost a pension?
- Who is most at risk of losing a pension?
- Did I have a SERPs pension?
- SERPs pension check
- Why it’s worth finding lost pensions
- Find lost pensions with your NI number
- Find if you have a pension from an old job
- Use the Government Pension Tracing Service
- Find pension details by contacting your provider
- Gretel and the Association of British Insurers
- FAQs
Have I lost a pension?
Losing track of a pension pot may be easier than you think – and many people have “lost” pensions without realising it, or without knowing how to check whether they have or not.
It can happen for many reasons, such as having a lot of different jobs throughout your working life, or moving house frequently.
Luckily, the process to get reunited with your hard-earned cash should be relatively straightforward.
Who is most at risk of losing a pension?
While there are a host of different reasons why people might lose track of their retirement savings, the most common reasons tend to be moving jobs multiple times and failing to stay on top of paperwork.
You’ve changed jobs multiple times
One of the biggest reasons for pensions getting lost is the fact that, these days, workers switch jobs far more frequently than they did in the past.
Every time you join a new company, you are usually automatically enrolled into your new employer’s workplace scheme.
While increased participation in pension saving is a good thing, for some individuals, it has resulted in a trail of small, forgotten pensions.
According to PensionBee, today’s youngest workers are forecast to accrue, on average, five different pension pots by the age of 68 – while some could accumulate more than 20 separate pots over a working lifetime. That’s a lot of pots to keep track of.
You’ve moved house often
At the same time, people also move house a lot more often than they used to. But if you move to a new home and fail to give your pension provider details of your new address, this can mean pensions are left floundering, with your provider unable to reach you.
So, even though updating your pension provider when you’re trying to settle into a new property may not seem like a priority, you must not forget to do this.
You opted out of Serps in the 1980s or 1990s
Another reason why lots of workers have lost pensions is because they chose to opt out of Serps (the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme) in the 1980s and 1990s. More on this below.
Did I have a Serps pension?
Serps was an “additional state pension” scheme, which operated between 1978 and 2002. It was designed to top up the basic state pension, based on your employed earnings over your working life.
Workers who were part of a personal or company pension scheme at this time may have been “contracted out” of Serps as you would have paid lower National Insurance (NI) contributions in return for you – or your employer – paying the extra directly into the other scheme.
Jason Witcombe, chartered financial planner at Empower Partners, said: “It was possible to ‘contract out’ of Serps – either through an employer pension, or through a personal pension that you set up yourself.
“What this meant was that rather than building up extra earnings-related pension via the state pension system, some of your NI contributions were paid into your pension scheme each year.”
The hope was that this might build into a pot that would give you a better and more flexible retirement income than if you had remained in Serps.
Mr Witcombe added: “As you wouldn’t have been contributing money from your personal bank account each year, it’s the sort of pension that some people might have lost track of. This is especially likely to have been the case for those who moved house a few times, with correspondence being sent to an old address.”
If you think you might have a pension from an old job after having contracted out of Serps, it’s important to check.
Serps pension check
If you are under state pension age, you can check your government state pension forecast to see how much state pension you are in line to get, and when.
Mr Witcombe said: “If you had been contracted out at any point in your career, your forecast will include a ‘Contracted-Out Pension Equivalent’ estimate.”
If you think you were contracted out and are unsure where the money went, you can write to HMRC. You’ll need your NI number to do so, along with other identifying information, such as your full name, previous name, address and date of birth.
Mr Witcombe added: “You can ask for details of any pension providers that your contracted-out contributions went to. You will then need to write to those providers to find out more.”
Why it’s worth finding lost pensions
If you do lose track of a pension – or pensions – the implications on your retirement funds can be serious.
Not only can it lead to a poorer retirement if you’re never reunited with your money, but your savings may also suffer if they’re left in an account that has expensive fees and/or performs poorly.
Most pensions will charge an annual fee to cover the provider’s costs. Often this will be a small percentage of your portfolio, which may be fine for those with small pots, but pricey if you have a large pot of money. Flat fees can work out cheaper for those with large amounts of money, but expensive if you only have a little saved. There may be other fees to pay, too – which could erode your savings if they’re not covered by the investment returns.
You might also find that older pensions are less flexible than newer ones – for example, some may not allow you to access your savings from 55 (57 from 2028), which could affect your plans if you wanted to withdraw your money early.
Finally, without tracking down all of your pension savings, it will be nigh on impossible to properly plan your retirement, as you won’t have a full picture of your finances.
It’s a good idea to address these issues as soon as possible – perhaps by deciding to consolidate your pensions. But this can only start if you find all of your pension pots.
Find lost pensions with your NI number
It may be possible to track down an old or missing pension using your NI number.
You’ll need it if you want to find out whether you contracted out of Serps, by sending your number and other personal details to HMRC, or whether you want to use the government’s pension tracing service (more on this below).
Your NI number is your unique identifier and can be found on your current payslip or previous payslips. If you do not know your NI number, you can find it here.
When searching for a misplaced pension pot, the best approach is to provide as many personal details as you can. In addition to your NI number, this includes your full name, any previous names, your date of birth, your current address, and any previous addresses.
Find out if you have a pension from an old job
When trying to track down old pots, you’ll need to go back through your working life to try and recall whether you had pensions with previous employers.
If you’ve kept them up to date, it may help to go over your CV or LinkedIn profile to see whether you’ve held any roles you’ve forgotten about.
You then need to contact each company you worked for – with the dates you were employed there – and ask them to give you details of the provider for workplace pensions at that time.
As well as basic personal information, it can be useful to have your NI number to hand.
Use the Government Pension Tracing Service
As workplace contact details can change and businesses can close, you might need to try the Government’s free-to-use Pension Tracing Service.
You can use this to track down both workplace and personal pensions. To do so, you’ll need the name or the employer or pension provider and the dates you worked there. You’ll also need your NI number.
Once you’ve provided these details, the service scans its database and provides contact details of your relevant pension provider. The ball is then in your court to get in touch with that provider to find out how to access your old pension.
Find pension details by contacting your provider
If you’ve got a good memory and can remember the name of your old pension provider, you can contact the company directly. Once again, you’ll need to provide your name and address (along with any previous names and former addresses).
If you think you’ve lost several different pensions, you’ll need to repeat the process for each one.
Gretel and the Association of British Insurers (ABI)
Gretel offers another free pension tracing service you can try (it also traces other financial products).
The ABI may also be able to help you trace your pension with its list of provider contact details. However, if you don’t know your provider, may find you get directed to the Government’s Pension Tracing Service (mentioned above).
FAQs
Is there a pension database?
The Government’s free Pension Tracing Service allows you to search a database of more than 200,000 pension schemes to find contact details for your pension provider, based on information you provide about your previous employment.
Separately, the Government has plans for a more extensive “pension dashboard” – a scheme which would allow savers to view all their pension information in one place.
But while it was initially announced back in 2016, its implementation has been much delayed and still has not launched.
In the latest update (March 2024), the Department for Work and Pensions gave updated guidance on the connection timetable.
The expectation now is that the biggest pension schemes will connect by the end of April 2025. Remaining schemes will then connect in order of size, with the intention for all schemes to have done so by the end of October 2026.
Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said: “We welcome the new guidance which confirms that dashboards will become a reality, reconnecting millions of people with their pensions in one place online, helping them to plan for their future selves.”
Can my pension disappear?
While some pots can be difficult to track down – especially older pots – they cannot disappear. It may just take a little more work to find them.
Even if a pension provider goes bust, your pot should not be lost forever. As long as the provider is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) you can get redress from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
How do I find my pension from years ago?
The best starting point to try and locate an old pension is to contact your pension provider, if you know it – and then contact either your old employer to find out which pension provider it used, or try the Government’s Pension Tracing Service. Gretel is another useful service (you can find more details of both above).
As well as providing basic personal details, you’re likely to need your NI number to track down your pot.
Can HMRC find my pension?
HMRC’s Pension Tracing Service may be able to find out the name and contact details of your pension provider/providers – but it won’t be able to tell you how much you have saved in each pot.
If you are trying to find a Serps pension, you can contact HMRC with your NI number, full name and address (and previous name and addresses), along with your date of birth.
Do I still get a full state pension if I was contracted out of Serps?
If you were contracted out of Serps your eventual state pension payout will likely be reduced as a result. This is because some of your National Insurance contributions were paid into a private or workplace pension, rather than used to bolster your state pension entitlement.
To check if you were contracted out, you can check your old payslips or call your pension provider (or providers).
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