When people move home, only around one in 25 actually remember to tell their pension providers their new address… which might explain why there are now £19.4 billion worth of pensions pots waiting to be reclaimed – averaging £13,000 each. By Tony Watts OBE
Sunday October 31 marks a new event in the financial calendar: National Pension Tracing Day – a reminder for all of us to track down any forgotten pension pots, currently worth an estimated £19.4 billion.
Founded by Punter Southall Aspire, National Pension Tracing Day is supported by Scottish Widows, Aegon, Legal and General and Standard Life and was created to encourage people to rediscover savings they may have overlooked.
A key factor in why people mislay pensions is changing jobs – on average 11 times in their life – along with moving house (typically eight times during one’s working life); but forgetting to tell their pension company about a new employer or address also looms large.
At a time when more and more of us are taking part in workplace pensions, as well as moving job more often than in the past, keeping tabs on your pension pots has never been more important.
To make the task easier, a new website has been launched to support the campaign – https://nationalpensiontracingday.co.uk/ which includes tips on retracing old jobs, searching paperwork and researching any gaps in pensions over your lifetime.
And remember that the process is entirely free – as long as you are not lured onto a commercial site that promises to track down your pensions for a fee! The Government site that will guide you through the process is: https://www.findpensioncontacts.service.gov.uk/
There is also a free and impartial government-backed MoneyHelper phoneline to track down pensions: 0800 011 3797.
Punter Southall Aspire’s employee benefits managing director, Alan Morahan, said: “Traditionally, the onus has been on pension schemes to track down people who have lost or forgotten theirs. However, one of the consequences of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) is that it’s harder for organisations to share information with each other, making it more difficult to track down those people.
“National Pension Tracing Day is designed to encourage people to have a go at doing it themselves. It’s easier than people think and what better way to use the extra hour this weekend than to potentially gain a windfall for free.”
A personal story
So just how easy is it to claim a lost pension?
With absolutely no expectations of a result, I test drove the system for myself. I’ve spent virtually all my life being self-employed but did start the first five years with two separate companies. I couldn’t recall ever putting money into a pension though…
I followed the online instructions – supplying my NI number, date of birth and the dates of my employment. Within a few days I received a letter from the DWP with the names and addresses of the bodies now managing those two pension funds – if I had a pension in their system, they could tell me.
Two quick emails were all the next stage required… then I waited.
Within a couple of weeks, a letter arrived saying that there I had not been part of the company pension scheme. Then another saying: “Yes, you have a pension with us. When you retire in two years’ time its estimated value will be £215 a month.” Result. And if I can do it, so can you!
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Check out how your retirement plans are going…
If you want to find out how your retirement plans are faring, and if/when you can afford to retire, or how much more you need to save, then why not check out your financial future on the RetireEasy LifePlan site. It takes a few minutes to set your plan up, it’s totally confidential and absolutely no one will try and sell you anything! Moreover, it costs just a few pounds a month to keep tabs on your plans longer term – and you can unsubscribe at any time.
