How to find old pensions you forgot about
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It’s surprisingly easy to lose track of an old pension.
Thanks to a combination of pension auto-enrolment and more frequent job changes, many of us now have more pension pots than our parents ever did.
And when people move on from a job or move homes, they don’t always remember to update their pension provider.
While most of these pension pots are small – which is probably why they’ve been forgotten – it’s well worth taking a moment to track them down.
As well as giving your retirement plans a nice bump, merging them into an existing pension can also save you money.
Fortunately it’s really easy to find old pensions – here’s how.
Why you should find old pensions
Old pensions can be worth a lot.
The Pensions Policy Institute estimates that there are currently almost 3.3 million lost pension pots, the majority of which belong to those under the age of 55.
The average value of these pension pots is £9,470.
While that amount might not be enough to retire on, with the right management it could grow to a sizeable sum.
In 20 years, it could be worth £20,774 at 4% growth, £36,654 at 7% growth and £63,694 at 10% growth.
Left alone, your pension pot might grow at a reasonable rate. But it might also be incurring high fees and leaving you with less than when you started.
That’s why it’s important to track down your old pensions – so you can see what the terms of the investment are and whether it’s worth merging your pension pots.
How to track down a workplace pension
Most lost pensions are forgotten workplace pensions.
To find these, start by making a list of all the companies you’ve worked for.
Then you can do a few things to track them down.
First, look through any paperwork from your former employer.
Details of workplace pensions might be mentioned on payslips, employment contracts, staff handbooks and letters or emails from your work.
If you no longer have any paperwork, you can try reaching out to your former employer for help.
For companies that still exist, contact the HR or payroll department and they should be able to point you in the direction of the pension provider.
If the company no longer exists then you’ll have to do a bit of sleuthing.
Remember, you may not have had a pension through your old employer at all so that’s worth verifying too.
What to do if your old employer no longer exists
It’s trickier to track down an old pension when your former employer no longer exists but it’s not impossible.
The obvious route – and probably the easiest – is to ask an old colleague if they remember who your old pension provider was.
If you’re no longer in touch with anyone, you can try searching Companies House for records of your old employer.
It’ll tell you whether the company has been dissolved, changed names or become part of another company.
If it has become part of a new company, get in touch and see if they can help.
Or if it’s closed for good, you’ll have to rely on a pension tracing service (more below).
How to track down a private pension
In addition to your workplace pension, you might have a private pension set up through a bank, insurance company, or financial adviser.
To find these, start by looking through your old paperwork.
Look out for annual statements or correspondence from pension providers or financial advisers, which might be tucked away in document folders, forgotten email accounts or old storage drives.
An alternative might be to look through old bank statements if you still have them.
As a last resort, you could contact some of the main pension providers, such as Aviva, Legal & General, Standard Life, Scottish Widows and Royal London.
You will need to provide your name, address history, work history and National Insurance number as a starting point and they’ll be able to help.
Pension tracing services and tools
Using a pension tracing service or tool can be a good fallback option and save you some time.
There are a few options here.
The government’s Pension Tracing Service
The most well known of the pension tracing tools is the government’s Pension Tracing Service, which holds pension provider details for over 200,000 UK companies.
It’s free to use but is by no means comprehensive.
For example, I tried to look up an old employer but it didn’t come up. Fortunately I already had the pension details for that particular employer.
If it does give you a result, it will just be the contact details for the pension provider linked to the company – you still have to get in touch directly to find your pension.
Gretel
An alternative and easier-to-use service is Gretel, a fintech firm that helps you track down lost pensions, forgotten bank accounts and more without you having to lift a finger.
You’ll need to sign up for a free account, and then share your name, date of birth, phone number and current address.
Gretel will use this information to track down those lost pensions and forgotten bank accounts.
You can help by sharing more details about yourself, such as confirming your previous addresses, adding your National Insurance number and any previous names you’ve used.
Your pension provider
Some pension providers have their own pension tracing service so it’s worth checking if yours does.
The added bonus is that you can ask them to transfer your pension at the same time, saving you that extra step.
I had a mixed experience when transferring my pension pots to PensionBee but usually it’s pretty straightforward.
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF)
Some companies operate a defined benefit pension scheme, which is primarily funded by the company itself.
These give you a guaranteed, regular income for life in retirement and the amount is based on either your final or career average salary with the company.
If the company collapses, the pension scheme will most likely have been taken over by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) so their index is a good place to start looking for this specific type of pension.
Read this: Glossary of pension terms: All the jargon explained
What happens when you find a lost pension
When you find a lost pension, you should ask for a valuation to find out how much it’s worth, if you haven’t been supplied with this information already.
You should also request details on any fees and benefits that come with your pension.
This information will help you decide whether to transfer your pension somewhere else or to keep it where it is and take advantage of the rules around trivial commutation.
And of course if you do keep your pension where it is, make sure you keep a record of it so it doesn’t get lost again.
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