Could this new tool help you track down your lost pensions?

One in five people with multiple pensions have lost track of at least one of them, contributing to £27bn in unclaimed savings across the UK.

This is according to pension provider Standard Life, which has unveiled a new free tool aimed at helping workers trace their lost pension pots.

Although the government is planning to introduce pensions dashboards to bring retirement savings together in one place, the project has faced multiple delays, making free pension tracing tools essential to fill the gap.

Here, we take a closer look at Standard Life’s new tool and explain other ways you can find your lost pensions. 

How do pensions become lost?

It’s estimated that there are 2.8m unclaimed pension pots in the UK, valued at nearly £27bn.

With the average person working for 11 employers over their lifetime, keeping track of multiple workplace pensions can be a challenge.

According to Standard Life, the most common ways pensions become lost include: 

starting a new job and changing employer

moving house and not informing your pension provider

being unsure of the company's name following a merger, acquisition or brand change

having no knowledge of which firm provided your workplace pension

having a vague knowledge of a pension with a previous employer but not knowing how to trace it.

Find out more:

How does Standard Life's new tool work?

Standard Life has introduced a free tool in partnership with the fintech firm Raindrop, which specialises in pension-finding technology. Since its launch, Raindrop says it has traced more than £325m in pension savings from 27,000 pots.

To use the free tool, you can either download the Standard Life app and access the Pension Tracing Finder under ‘Actions & Tools’ or visit its website under the 'find my pensions' section. 

Anyone can use the tool, even if you don’t currently have a pension or account with Standard Life, but you will need to create an account and verify your identity. To do this, you'll be asked for your date of birth, National Insurance number and address.  

For the pension search, you’ll need your employer’s name and your employment dates. This information will be shared with Raindrop, which will initiate the search. The process typically takes four to six weeks, with a case manager available to provide updates.

There are some limitations. The tool cannot search for pensions from public sector jobs, jobs you left before 1990, jobs you left before turning 22, jobs that lasted less than three months, or jobs that lasted less than two years before 2000.

Once your pensions have been located, you’ll be offered the option to combine your eligible policies into a Standard Life Sipp or take the information away and work out a plan that suits you.

Find out more: 

Should you consolidate your pensions?

When managing multiple workplace pensions from different employers, it can be difficult to keep track of their performance. Consolidating your pensions, either by moving them to a new provider or merging them into one existing pot, can reduce fees and offer access to varied investment options. However, transferring pensions may come with exit penalties that offset the potential benefits, and some plans include safeguarded or valuable benefits that could be lost through consolidation.Find out more:

Other ways to hunt down lost pensions

There are several other ways you can find missing pensions, and in the past year we’ve seen new services launch from the likes of Aviva and AJ Bell. 

We’ve rounded them up below in alphabetical order. 

ABI 

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) provides guidance for finding the contact details of the providers now responsible for your policies. 

It’s free to use, but requires you to know which companies previously managed your pensions.

AJ Bell

Launched in 2023, AJ Bell’s service uses your National Insurance number and basic employment details to search for pensions in your name. 

It can confirm the current provider, transfer values and potential benefits. The search takes around two to four weeks and is free to use.

Find out more

Aviva

Aviva’s Find and Combine service, launched earlier this year, uses AI to locate lost pensions. 

The search can take between four and 12 weeks, during which you’ll receive a dashboard report with pension values and any safeguarded benefits. 

Aviva claims it’s the only UK provider offering a comprehensive tracing service that also checks for valuable benefits and potential fees.

Find out more: 

Government Pension Tracing Service

This free service searches a database of more than 200,000 pension schemes to find contact details for your provider. 

You’ll need the name of an employer or pension provider to use it, but it doesn't provide information on pension values.

Gretel

Gretel is an assets-tracing service launched in 2019 that covers pensions, bank accounts and insurance policies. 

It’s free to use, and once you register your details, it continually searches for missing assets as new records become available.

Find out more

The Pension Tracing Service

Not to be confused with the government’s service, this private service launched in 2012 contacts HMRC, DWP and various pension providers to trace missing pensions. 

It’s free to use and can access up to 200,000 schemes, providing an estimated value for each located pot.

source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/could-this-new-tool-help-you-track-down-your-lost-pensions-aUbNX1j8xzgO