Helping members find lost or forgotten pension savings

The latest research by the Pensions Policy Institute on lost pensions is a very interesting read and I’d encourage you to take a look. Did you know that as many as 1 in 20 people could have pension savings they don’t know about? The total value of lost pension pots in the UK has grown from £19.4 billion in 2018 to £26.6 billion in 2022. The number of lost pots has risen from 1.6 million to 2.8 million in 2022 in the same time period.

For me, a worrying finding was that in recent years the research showed an increase in people moving house and more people changing jobs through the Coronavirus pandemic. This has exacerbated the issue and made it more important than ever for people to update their details with their provider.

The steep increase in lost pension pots highlights the urgency for action to be taken by savers themselves to keep track of their pensions and trace their lost savings. These lost pots, which are worth an average of £9,470, could make a real difference to people’s retirement if they were reunited with their owner.

With the recent rise in the cost of living, finding lost money has never been so important. We'd like to see as many people as possible reunited with their lost or missing pension savings. That’s why we focus so much attention on encouraging members to find lost pensions.

We’re keen to work with the industry in the long term. One important aim is for technology to open up ‘pot follows member’ legislation across the industry. This would mean that when you change jobs, the default scenario is that your pension savings automatically make the move with you to your new employer’s workplace pension scheme.

How we are helping our members

First of all, our technology makes finding lost pensions effortless. We have a pension finder tool that allows members to locate lost or forgotten pension savings in a matter of clicks. Our transfer service also allows members to see all their pension savings from previous jobs in one place, and combine them into one place if they’d like to.

Secondly, we think that employers can play a pivotal role in getting the message out to their employees about how they can find their own lost pension savings. To help companies do this, we’ve created an easy-to-use toolkit. It provides a range of different communications, such as graphics, videos, posters, payslip messaging and much more. Take a look and download it here.

Pension treasures are out there, just waiting to be found

Pensions need to stand out to get noticed. Our campaign theme is all about finding lost pension treasure. Watch our video, which aims to increase awareness among Smart Pension members.

An added resource is our member page, which has how-to videos, easy-to-understand instructions and much more. Additionally, our interactive animation guides show members just how easy it is to find any lost pension savings they may have forgotten or not known about.