How to find old or lost pensions

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If you’ve moved house, changed jobs or ever had more than one pension plan, some of the estimated £26.6 billion currently lying in lost or dormant pension pots could be yours.

It’s easier to misplace a pension pot than you think and it happens a lot. It's estimated that more than 2.8 million pension plans, worth an average of £9,470, are currently unclaimed. And that looks set to rise with the government predicting that there could be as many as 50 million misplaced pots by 2050.

So, how do all these plans get lost and forgotten? And what can you do about it?

Why are people losing track of pension plans from old jobs?

Well, the good news is that every employer now has to provide most of their workers with a pension plan that both they and their employees pay into. Meaning more than 10 million people have been ‘auto-enrolled’ since 2012.

The bad news is that many employees don’t pay much attention to their workplace pension, or what it’s worth. And then, when they leave or change jobs, many forget all about it. It’s estimated that the average person in the UK will change jobs every five years – which is a lot of pension pots to keep track of.

Studies have found that only one in 25 people would instinctively think to tell their pension provider when they move home, which means contact details are out of date.

How to trace a pension with a National Insurance number

If you think one or possibly more of these lost or dormant pension pots could be yours, it can be quite straightforward to track them down.

With your National Insurance number, the names and addresses of your previous employers, and some help from the Government’s Pension Tracing Service, you should be able to find out everything you need to know.

If it’s been some time since you took out the pension plan, you could be in for a nice surprise as it’s had the potential to grow in value over the years thanks to potential investment growth and compounding. 

Consider bringing all your pension plans together

If you manage to trace a lost pension plan or if you want to make managing a number of plans easier, you could consider bringing your plans into one – which you can do with us or another provider.

Having all your pensions savings in one place can cut down on admin time, as well as potentially reducing the charges you pay. 

It might not be right for everyone and there’s no guarantee you’ll get more as a result of transferring. Some older workplace pension plans might have valuable benefits or guarantees, so check you won’t lose these if you transfer. For example, if you’re thinking about moving money out of a final salary (also known as a defined benefit) pension plan, or if you’re unsure about your options, you should seek financial advice.

If you don't have a financial adviser, you can find one in your local area at Unbiased. You can check if an adviser has been authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on FCA.org.uk. 

A pension plan is an investment, so its value can go down as well as up and it could be worth less than was paid in.

You can read more about the pros and cons of combining your pensions in our recent video.

Getting everything into shape

There are also really useful tools available, like our pension calculator, that make it easy for you to work out if you’re saving enough today to be on track for the kind of retirement you want.

And the next time you move jobs or change address, take the time to do the little bit of paperwork to make sure you continue to keep track of all your pension plans.

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The information here is based on our understanding in September 2024 and shouldn’t be taken as financial advice.

Standard Life accepts no responsibility for information in external websites. These are provided for general information.

A pension is an investment and its value can go down as well as up and may be worth less than was paid in.