Could you have a lost pension?

If you’ve had a few jobs but have lost track of the workplace pension that came with one or more of them, it’s time to join the hunt to find them.

How and when you take your pension may be one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll make. And getting to that important moment might require a fair bit of financial planning. Will you have enough money to keep you going in retirement? Are you on track to meet your lifestyle goals? Do you need to try and save more?

To answer these questions, you’ll need to know how much you have built up today. This could include your state pension, and any other pension pots and savings you may have, aside from your TPT pension savings.

But if you’ve switched jobs or moved home during your working life, it can sometimes be hard to keep track of the pension savings you’ve built up. Your pension providers may be sending letters to an old address, or you may have lost the details of an old pension pot. If that’s the case, then you could have a lost pension.

Across the UK there are an estimated 2.8 million lost or forgotten pension pots, worth an average of £9,500 each - or more than £26 billion in total.

Here's what you can do...

Retrace your old steps

You’ll need to figure out if there are any gaps in your pension history. Think about all your previous job roles and how long you worked there – can you remember if they had a pension scheme? Try searching through your old paperwork and emails for any old pension statements.

Contact your old employers

If something just isn’t adding up, or you find a gap in your pension history, it’s time to do some detective work and reach out to your old employers. If you can’t find their contact details, try Companies House which can provide a breakdown of companies’ previous names.

Make use of the services available

The Government has a tracing service specifically to help you find details of a lost pension, and there’s also The Pension Tracing Service that helps you to locate lost pensions and offers advice on what to do with it if you find it.

It’s also worth taking a look at the National Pension Tracing Day website. The site has a wealth of information to help you.

Remember to stay scam smart

Pension scammers are working hard at all times to try and con people out of their lifetime savings – and National Pension Tracing Day is no exception. When it comes to finding your lost pension, remember to remain cautious by:

• Sticking to free services – there’s no need to pay anyone to find your lost pension.
• Avoid pension cold callers (it’s illegal) and check that anyone offering you a service is listed on the Financial Services Register. You can also look for scammers on the FCA’s warning list.
• Be wary of ‘rare’ or ‘once in a lifetime’ offers – especially those promising high returns.

You can find more tips on how to avoid pension scams here.

You can check the amount you have saved in your TPT pension at any time by logging into your Retirement Savings Account. Please also check that your personal and contact details are up-to-date so that we can send you important information about your pension now and in the future.