It is common for many people to have different jobs in their lifetime, which means that they will have made contributions to different workplace pension schemes with various employers. Keeping track of how much is in those multiple pots and physically locating them can be very difficult, especially if you have worked in a number of jobs throughout your career, a previous employer has gone out of business, or you’ve moved house and no longer receive statements on your pension savings.

In order to get the most out of your retirement, you need to find and figure out how much money you will receive from all of your pensions combined – both workplace and personal.

Need help or advice on finding and combining all of your pensions? Financial Advisor UK offers a national network of fully FCA-registered and approved professionals who you can be matched with to receive the right financial advice for your circumstances.

Finding a personal or workplace pension

Any pension schemes that you have been a part of should send you a letter with a statement indicating how much each scheme is worth, and an estimation of how much your fund(s) may be when you reach retirement. If you haven’t been receiving these statements, you’ll need to contact either the pension provider, The Pension Tracing Service or your former employer (if you are trying to find a workplace pension).

If you can, contact your previous employer(s) for details of your workplace pensions. You can do this by contacting the human resources department. You’ll need the dates you worked for your former employer to hand, as well as your National Insurance number. If you are trying to locate a pension from a previous job you had in the public sector, you should contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

If you have details of the provider your pension was with, you should contact them directly with your National Insurance number, plan number (if possible), date of birth and dates you worked for your employer.

By speaking to either your former employer or the pension provider, you should be able to determine the current value of your pension pot, how much your employer has contributed into that pot, charges you may be paying, how much income you will finally receive when you retire, how the pension is managed and invested, options you have to make changes, death benefits and so on.

Have your pension contributions been refunded?

If you have only been in a pension scheme for a very short amount of time (because you left a job shortly after starting one), it is possible that your pension contributions may have already been refunded. If you left an employer before 1975, is is highly likely that you will have had your pension contributions refunded. If you didn’t pay into a pension scheme at all, it is likely that you won’t receive anything or be entitled to anything (except for if you worked for an employer for over 15 years).

If you terminated your contract with your employer between the dates of April 1975 and April 1988, it is possible that you’d have a pension if you were over 26 when you left, and had worked over 5 years of service with that employer. If not, it is likely that your contributions would have been refunded.

If your contract of employment ended after 1988, it is possible that you may be entitled to a pension if you worked for your employer for over two years. If you left your position before this, your pension contributions will have been refunded.

Always check with your employer to confirm whether or not your contributions have been refunded.

Pension Tracing Service

Another option for tracking down a lost pension is to contact the Pension Tracing Service, a free platform that enables you to search a database of over 200,000 pension schemes. You can do this online through the GOV UK website, or call 0800 731 0193.

What to do next

• Search through that pile of paperwork at home and try to find details of any pensions you may have lost track of. Look out for pay slips, pension statements and misplaced letters regarding your pension. Check payslips for any pension deductions. If you have got pension contributions on your payslips and you haven’t received a refund, you have a pension that you’ve lost track of.
• Get back in touch with previous employers and their HR departments. Ask them for the pension provider’s details.
• Use the Pension Tracing service (details above) if you still cannot find details of missed pensions.

Why not gather all of your pension savings into a single pot?

It is highly likely that many of us will have multiple pension pots that we will inevitably lose track of in our lifetime. Why not consider transferring your pensions into a single pot? This makes your pension fund easier to manage and keep track of. Should you be interested in doing this for your future, Financial Advisor UK can match you with an FCA-approved financial advisor who can offer help, support and pointers on the right companies that can consolidate your pension savings for your future.