Have you worked for multiple different employers over the years? Perhaps you’ve started multiple pensions but forgotten where and when? If so, then reading this article guides you on tracing your pensions.
Most people work for a good number of companies during their career, with research showing that the average person will have 11 different jobs throughout their working life. That’s 11 potential pension schemes you could have joined and paid into and are now forgotten about. If each pension has £3,000 invested, then there’s a potential £33,000 retirement fund that you can manage and maximise.
It’s no wonder therefore that many people lose track of the pensions they have – particularly if previous employers have been bought by other companies or the individual has moved home several times and pension companies no longer have a valid address for them.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions there will be 50 million dormant workplace pension pots by 2050, which will contain £757billion in unclaimed cash. With nearly half of all missing pensions classed as simply forgotten!
How do I find a misplaced pension?
Normally, most pension providers will send you an annual statement that states the pension value or the projected retirement income with all the relevant pension details e.g. provider name, scheme name and policy/plan number. You may not have this statement, if you changed your home address but did not update the new address details with the pension provider. In this case, you may wish to contact your previous employers and find out whether you had a pension and if so, who is the pension provider.
If the above doesn’t work then you may try the following options to find your pensions:
- The Department for Work and Pensions has a free, online Pension Tracing Service (PTS), which aims to provide you with the address of your scheme provider after which it’s up to you to make any further enquiries.
- FindMyLostPension holds a database of national insurance numbers submitted to them by pension companies who’ve lost contact with former members of their pension schemes and wish to reunite them with their unclaimed pension. This free service will give you the name and contact details of the company that currently holds your missing pension after which you can get in touch with them.
- For a small fee (£25), you can sign up to The Unclaimed Assets Register (UAR), operated by Experian, to track down your lost pension.
For more information on how we can help in this area, please feel free to contact us.