How to find lost pensions (UK)

There is an estimated £37bn of unclaimed pensions in the United Kingdom. The research estimates that 1 in 4 pensions in the UK is unclaimed or lost.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) estimates that more than 1.6 million workplace pension plans, worth an average of £13,000, are currently unclaimed. This figure is expected to rise in the coming years. The UK’s government predicted that by 2050, there could be up to 50 million misplaced pensions. This applies to defined benefit, defined contribution, and personal pensions.

If you have lost contact with one or more of your pensions, the deVere Group pension tracing service is here to help.

How pensions get lost

There is a range of reasons why people lose track of their pension savings, including:

Change of employment

The average person changes jobs 11 times during their career. Because of this, it has become common for people to lose track of accrued benefits with their previous employer(s).

Change of contact details

The average person changes address seven times during their working life. As a result, unless addresses are updated with the pension schemes, contact is lost. The same applies to mobile numbers and email addresses. According to ABI, only 1 in 25 people would instinctively think to tell their pension scheme/provider that they’ve changed address. 

Change of residency

Many people who have worked in the United Kingdom have relocated overseas and lost contact with their pension arrangements.

Consolidation of pension schemes/providers in the financial services industry

Pension schemes and providers often change their name or become acquired by larger companies. Because of this, people often disregard the correspondence from pension schemes they are unfamiliar with.

Believing the pension value is not worth tracking down

deVere Group has been involved in countless cases where clients have been pleasantly surprised by the value of their pension assets. Pensions which have been left to compound over several years can grow significantly.

Does this apply to you?

If you believe one or possibly more of these lost or dormant pension pots could be yours, deVere Group is here to help. deVere Group’s pension tracing service allows you to track down lost and forgotten pensions. Start the process and reconnect with your pension assets.

Book a review

Step 1

Fill in the form found on the next page

Step 2

Someone from our team will reach out to verify details (including National Insurance Number)

Step 3

Our pension tracing team will track down your lost schemes

Step 4

Receive a suitability report

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