How do pensions get lost?
You move home. You need to tell lots of people and organisations your new address. Did you remember to tell your pension providers? Many people don’t – and this is a common way for pensions to get lost. The pension provider’s still got your money, but they can’t get in touch with you.
Pension providers do try to trace people using specialist organisations that run tracing services. But with all the data privacy rules there are nowadays, it’s difficult. So it’s worth going through your own work history and seeing if there might be any pensions lurking in forgotten corners.
Maybe you didn’t even realise you had a pension with a past job. Since auto enrolment started in 2012, you could have automatically gone into a previous employer’s pension scheme without noticing. And if you’ve changed jobs a few times, you could have several amounts of small pension savings you’ve lost track of.
Be your own pensions detective
You can start by thinking about all the places you’ve ever worked. Go through your old records – CVs, employment contracts, letters and emails – and list all your jobs in order.
Once you’ve done that, start looking for evidence of pensions. For example, pension statements or payslips showing pension contributions. See how many of your jobs you can match up with pensions evidence?
Using the pension tracing service
If you don’t have contact details for old workplaces or pension providers, you can try the government’s pension tracing service.
You’ll need a workplace name to start. Even if it looks as if the workplace doesn’t exist any more, it’s worth trying an internet search with any name you can remember. The company could have changed its trading name or been taken over, but an old name might still show up in a search. You can also try searching the Companies House register.
Some workplaces use personal pensions as their workplace pension. You may see these called group personal pensions or GPPs. So if you haven’t found a workplace pension, try searching for a personal pension. In this case you’ll need to know the name of the pension provider. Again, it’s worth searching with any name you can remember, as an old provider that’s been taken over could show up in an internet search. Or, try the Association of British Insurers (ABI)’s list of pension providers. This lists old pension providers and who’s taken them over.
Ready to contact old providers? Make sure you know your NI number
Once you’ve found an old workplace or pension provider’s contact details, you’ll want to contact them to ask if they’ve got any pension records for you. To do this, you’ll need your National Insurance (NI) number. You’ll find your NI number on payslips or letters from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). It’s in this format: QQ 12 34 56 X.
Your old workplace or pension provider will need to check your identity before they give out any personal details. Your NI number makes this easy. Because it’s unique, it’s a better identifier than your name and address (which could have changed) or your date of birth (which could be the same as someone else’s).
Found a pension? Things to check
Does the provider say they’ve got a record for you? Great – you’ve found a pension. Here are some things to check.
How much is it?
The first thing to ask the provider is how much your pension’s worth. And ask them to send you an up-to-date benefit statement showing the value. You can use this as an opportunity to give the pension provider your contact details, so your pension doesn’t get lost again in future.
Can you manage it online?
Is there a website or app you can use to manage your pension, like now:u? What are the login details? What can you do online?
Even if you can’t manage your pension online, there’s usually a telephone helpline. Ask the provider how you stay in touch with your pension.
What kind of pension is it?
The most common type is defined contribution (DC). DC pension savings build up based on payments from you and your workplace, and investment returns.
When you retire, you use the money you’ve built up to give yourself a retirement income. now:pensions offers a DC pension.
If you worked in the public sector, or your job was more than 20 years ago, you could have some defined benefit (DB) pension. With DB, you build up an amount of pension each year based on part of your salary and the number of years you build up the pension. When you retire, the pension pays you a guaranteed income for the rest of your life.
What happens if you transfer it out?
Are there any guarantees or benefits you’d lose if you transfer this pension out? For example, if it’s a DB pension, you’d lose the guaranteed income for life.
And does the provider charge you to transfer out?
Putting your pensions together could save money
Once you’ve found your old pensions, it’s worth thinking about putting them all together in one place. This could save you money, as you wouldn’t be paying charges to several different pension providers.
If you’re currently paying into now:pensions, you could bring your other pensions into your now:pensions account. This means you’d only pay charges to now:pensions.
Find out about now:pensions costs and charges.
Find and combine your pensions.
More about finding lost pensions
The National Pension Tracing Day website has lots of resources to help you start looking for lost pensions, including a video on how to use the pension tracing service.
The government-backed MoneyHelper website has more information about pensions and retirement.
There’s a free service called Gretel you can use to trace old pensions, bank accounts and investments. You have to put in personal details, including all your old addresses and your National Insurance number.
Gretel works by partnering with companies and financial organisations and it doesn’t yet have them all on board. But once you’ve set up an account with them, they search every 14 days and tell you if they find anything.
