How to find your pensions: Tracing lost or forgotten pots

Many employees have been enrolled in multiple workplace pensions during the course of their careers, and it can be surprisingly easy to lose track of those pension pots when you move from one employer to another. 

Even if you only have relatively small sums in each pension, they can soon add up if you consolidate them into one larger pension pot. 

Why do people lose track of pensions?

The most common reason for losing track of a pension is moving to a different employer and being enrolled in the new company’s workplace pension. In that situation it’s easy to forget who your previous pension was with and how much was in that other pot. 

Of course, workplace pensions aren’t the only type of pension you might lose track of. If you had a stakeholder pension, a SIPP or another type of personal pension there are a number of reasons you might lose track of those too, such as:

• Changing your name or address and failing to update those records with the pension provider
• Moving abroad
• Missing a notice that your fund has been closed or moved to another provider
• Forgetting that you even had a separate personal pension.

How do I find out if I have a pension I don’t know about?

List out all jobs you’ve had and either contact the old HR departments at those companies, or look through correspondence for info on their pension providers. Ideally you’ll find what you need in order to contact those pension providers, but if not you can try the government’s pension tracing service. 

What are the types of pensions I might have lost track of?

There are a number of pension types you could have:

Workplace Pensions

There are two kinds of workplace pension schemes: 

• Defined Contribution
• Defined Benefit 

Most auto-enrolment schemes are Defined Contribution (they pay out based on what’s paid in), and these account for most of the lost or forgotten pension funds. 

However, if there’s a chance that you've lost track of a Defined Benefit policy then it's vital that you track it down as these schemes pay out a guaranteed income based on your final salary and your tenure in the job.  

Personal Pensions

There are also several types of personal pensions that might have lost track of, including:

• Stakeholder Pensions: a Personal Pension fund offering simplicity and flexibility in your contributions. 
• Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs): a pension fund where you choose the investments yourself.
• Standard Personal Pensions: pensions individuals set up themselves, separate from an employer’s pension scheme.

The UK pension market is constantly changing so it’s possible to lose track of your personal pension if your original provider closed, or if your fund was consolidated or transferred to a different provider. 

How can I find a lost pension?

Use the government’s Pension Tracing Service

The government’s pension tracing service, which is there to help find lost pensions, is free to all and available at https://www.findpensioncontacts.service.gov.uk. 

Before using the service it's best to have some details to hand, including: 

• The name of your previous employer or pension service (you'll need this to get started)
• Any previous names your employer might have had
• The type of business you worked for
• Any changes of address
• When you belonged to the scheme.

If successful, the service will give you the name and number of the provider which runs (or ran) that employer’s workplace pension. From there it’s up to you to:

• Get in touch
• Ask whether you have a pension with them (and its current value)
• Take further action (for example, consolidating that pension with your other pension pots).

Contact previous employers

To hunt down an old workplace pension you could simply contact your previous employer and ask which provider they used during your tenure. 

This may be easier if your former employer has an organised HR team, but the least you need to get started is a provider name, and coupled with the dates you worked with that company you can then make a call to ask if you have a pension there.

If your previous employer no longer exists then look for:

• Old paperwork showing pension scheme details or your contributions (look for employment contracts, emails, payslips, P45, P60)
• Old colleagues to ask who provided the pension, or if they have contacts for anyone in-the-know (LinkedIn can be a handy resource for this)
• Information on what happened to your previous employer - if they were bought out, for example, then it’s possible the new owner might be able to help you.

Contact previous pension providers

If you’ve lost track or are hazy about a personal pension then look for your set-up documents, pension statements or any other communication so you can ascertain which provider you’re with. 

Check your paper files and email archives for things like annual statements or even paying-in slips. Search for words like ‘pension’ in your email accounts (past and present; Trash, Junk and Archive folders too) and see what comes back. 

Once you get a hit on a provider, even if it’s unconfirmed, then make contact to ask whether you have a pension there. If yes, great. If not, keep looking.

Use your National Insurance (NI) number

Your National Insurance number is a constant throughout your life, so some pension tracing services and pension providers will use it to identify you and connect you with policies that are in your name. 

If you've managed to get a partial picture of your pension, your NI number may be the final piece that connects you to the information you need. 

Consider using a financial adviser or pension tracing company

Providers, brokers, financial advisers and other private businesses may offer pension tracing services for free, as part of a broader relationship, or as a standalone paid-for service. 

Engaging a premium tracing service could be beneficial as it takes the time pressure off you and hands the detective work over to someone who knows exactly where and how to search effectively.

But do ensure you understand exactly what you’re paying for and the nature of the fees. While most will charge a flat fee, some advisers or brokers may take a percentage of funds they recover, which could potentially run into big money if you have large pension pots. 

How do I check the value of my pension?

You can check the value of your pension by requesting a statement from your provider or, in some cases, by logging in to your online account or app. 

Most pension statements include the following:

• Your fund value: how much is in there 
• Contribution details: how much you or anyone else, like your employer, has put in
• Investment performance: is your fund up or down and by how much?
• Charges: a breakdown of fees and costs.

More sophisticated statements may also include:

• Projected retirement income: how much you might receive at retirement based on current investment returns
• Tracker: assessing pension performance against your financial goals
• Investment assessment: projections or commentary showing how your fund may perform if you change strategy or increase contributions

What should I do once I have found my pensions?

Consider consolidating pensions

Once you’ve tracked down your lost pensions, it’s worth weighing up the pros and cons of consolidating them all into one single pension fund. 

A key exception is if you uncover a lost Defined Benefit pension. In that case consolidating it into another pension might not be the best plan, and you should seek financial advice before transferring out of it because it’s likely to have benefits that you wouldn’t find with any other pension.

Pension consolidation positives

• One set of fees
• One statement 
• One set of login details to remember 
• One clear view of one pension and its performance

Pension consolidation negatives

• There may be exit fees 
• You could lose special benefits associated with your other pots (these may include earlier access or guaranteed growth rates)
• A pot you leave may perform better than the one you move your funds into
• You’re wholly reliant on one fund and its performance.

Whether or not it’s best to consolidate pension pots depends on you, your circumstances and where you’re at in your retirement planning journey. It may actually be advantageous for you to employ different levels of risk via multiple pension pots, so weigh up all the options. 

Update your details with providers

Whether you decide to consolidate your pensions or stick with the same providers, it’s important to ensure that they each have up to date information for you, including your current address, phone number, and email address. 

It’s also vital you update your details and your wishes after big life events, such as marriage, divorce, deaths, having children and so on. As life happens make sure your pension details are accurate and that your policy reflects your wishes, including death benefit nominations. 

Track your pensions going forward

Many pension companies now offer online portals, apps and dashboards, and signing up to these services, which differ in sophistication, can be an efficient, easy way to track your pension’s performance and stay up to date with your provider. 

It’s always worth keeping a separate written record of any pension policies you have too, in case of a tech malfunction or if something should happen to you. Having a go-to list of scheme providers and policy numbers will save a lot of time; whether it’s you or someone else searching for your funds.