You’ve got an extra hour in October – use it to track down your old pensions

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What would you do with an extra hour in the day? Watch an episode of your favourite show? Get an extra hour of sleep? Cook a delicious meal?

Well, on 27 October, the clocks go back – giving you an extra hour to yourself. This year, as part of National Pension Tracing Day, we’re going to tell you why you should spend that hour tracking down your old pension pots.

How could I have lost a pension?

A pot of money isn’t something you’d think you’d misplace – but it’s easier to do than you might think. In fact, there are currently almost three million pension pots in the UK not matched to their owners, worth almost £27 billion in total.  

When you start a new job, you’ll typically be automatically enrolled into your company’s workplace pension scheme. And while you work there, you and your employer will be paying into that pension plan.

But when you leave that job and move onto a new one, that plan doesn’t follow you. Your new employer will set up a new workplace pension plan for you, and unless you think to keep tabs on your old plan, or combine it with your new one, it’s easy to forget about. And if that happens every time you change jobs (even if it’s to a part-time or short-term job), you could find yourself with quite a few lost pension pots.

Why spend my hour tracking them down?

The average lost pension pot is worth almost £9,500 – that money could make a big difference to the amount you have to live on in retirement, especially if you have more than one lost pot out there. Plus, it’s your hard-earned savings; don’t let a bit of life admin put you off claiming what’s yours.

If that’s not enough to convince you, the whole process is easier than you might think. All you’ll need is your National Insurance number and some basic information (like names and addresses) about your previous employers.

Plug this into the government’s Pension Tracing Service and you should get the information you need.

I’ve tracked them down – now what?

Once you’ve tracked them down, you don’t want to lose them again. Make sure you keep a note of where they are, how to access them and how much they’re worth. Or, if it’s right for you, you could think about bringing them together into one pot. You can do this with us or another pension provider.

Having everything in one place could make it easier to keep track of your pension savings going forward. It also could help you cut back on admin time and the charges you pay. 

It’s not right for everyone, though. First, check that transferring won’t mean you lose out on any valuable benefits or guarantees you might have attached to older pension plans. And keep in mind some pension providers will charge you for transferring a pension away from them.

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

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