30 October marks National Pension Tracing Day, where people are encouraged to track down lost pensions, and a new poll of 2,000 people carried out by Opinium on behalf of Hargreaves Lansdowne shows the importance of checking out the possibility that somewhere there is a handy pension pot with your name on it…

According to the survey:

• 23% of people say they have lost track of a pension.
• The total value of lost pension pots has grown from £19.4bn to £26.6bn between 2018 and 2022.

• There has also been a 73% increase in the number of lost pension pots during this time from an estimated 1.6m to over 2.8m.
• The government’s Pension Tracing Service can help you track down a lost pension – free of charge.

Critically, says HL, losing track of a pension can have a significant impact on an individual’s retirement.

According to Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown: “Most people will change jobs several times during their working lives and this means we are likely to accumulate several pensions. Over time, it can be easy to lose track – you may move jobs or house and don’t update your contact details. But this can have a major impact on your retirement planning.

“Finding a lost pension could be the difference between struggling to make ends meet or being a bit more comfortable in retirement. It might mean you can afford go part-time in the years before retirement or need to stay in work for longer, so its vitally important to keep your contact details for your pensions up to date. If you think you have lost track of a pension, contacting the government’s pension tracing service can help you locate it.”

According to an FOI request made by HL, the service received over 232,000 calls between April 2017-August 2022.

Once you’ve located your lost pension, it might make sense to consolidate it with any other pensions you may have. However, before doing this, it is important to check whether there are any terms on old pensions that mean you might lose out on valuable benefits or cost you money if you decide to consolidate. You can read more about that topic on our blog here: https://www.retireeasy.co.uk/news/pros-cons-consolidating-pension-pots

HL’s top tips for tracking down lost pensions

• If you have lost details of an old pension scheme, contact the government’s tracing service on Find pension contact details – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). It won’t tell you how much is in the pension, but it will help you find contact details.
• You need the name of the company you worked for, the name of the pension scheme, or the name of the pension provider.
• If you prefer to speak to someone, call the Tracing Service on 0800 731 0193 – Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
• Whenever you move home, it is worth adding pension providers to the list of people you need to notify so they have up to date contact details for you and you don’t miss out on important communications.