Ahead of National Pension Tracing Day experts warn of over £13,000 laying unclaimed in ‘lost’ pensions 

Ahead of National Pension Tracing Day, this Sunday (27 October), new research from digital wealth manager, Moneyfarm, has found that 29 percent of the nation have no idea how many pension pots they have – believing that they probably have around £13,303 sitting across approximately three ‘lost’ pension plans – yet a whopping 79 percent say they don’t know how to begin tracking them down. 

This echoes figures released today by the Pensions Policy Institute who estimate that as many as 3.29 million pension pots worth £31.1 billion remain unclaimed in the UK.

Having multiple different pots is inevitably hard to keep track of, leading to feelings of worry and frustration for 27 percent of the nation, yet worryingly, 18 percent say they are unconcerned because they believe there is plenty of time to track them down later in life. 

Whilst annual statements from any workplace or private pension provider should be issued, if you move home and don’t update your pension provider, statements can easily go missing. This, coupled with the number of jobs we hold over a lifetime are the main reasons people lose track of old pensions – and the more pensions you have, the more admin, and the harder it is to stay on top of them all.

The research went on to reveal that only 15 percent of people instinctively inform their pension provider when they change address. In comparison, 74 percent will notify their bank, 62 percent will inform their doctors, 51 percent their local authority and 50 percent their energy suppliers in a timely fashion. 

Carina Chambers, Pensions Technical Expert at Moneyfarm says, “Pensions are not easy to keep track of over a lifetime, so it’s quite common for one, if not more to get overlooked and forgotten about, with the average person having three lost pensions containing around £13,000.

“If you are one of these people, then the first thing you need to do is learn how to find lost pensions so as to maximise your savings for retirement. Combining your old pensions could help you streamline your retirement planning and keep your savings on track, but this is something you need to deal with regularly, not just when you’re getting nearer to retirement. 

“You will need to be armed with as much information as possible such as your National Insurance number, date of birth, pension plan number and employment dates. You then have the option of trying to track down your pensions on your own or through the  Government’s Pension Tracing Service who will tell you where your pensions are and then you can contact the providers directly”. 

But if you don’t want to do all this yourself, Moneyfarm have just launched a free Find, Check & Transfer service which does the heavy lifting for you. From tracking down and finding any lost pensions, to checking each pension found and informing you of any benefits that may be lost such as guaranteed tax-free cash or any potential penalties that may be incurred before transferring them into one new personalised plan, tailored to your investment goals.

“Even relatively small pension pots could grow in value over time thanks to being long-term investments and benefitting from compound interest. It means that if you can find a lost pension, it could be worth a sizeable amount of money, which is why knowing how to find lost pensions is so important”, concludes Chambers.

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