Tracing a missing pension
The Pension Tracing Service keeps a register of all pension schemes. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has recently launched a new microsite on GOV.UK to help people find their lost pensions. In order to use this service, the applicant needs to enter their employer’s name or the name of the pension scheme.
Some suggestions for finding the name of an historic employer include:
- looking through old paperwork;
- asking former colleagues if they know the employer or scheme name;
- using the search function on the Companies House website as it holds names of all closed and existing companies registered in the UK.
The service provides an easier way for people to trace lost pension savings. The DWP has estimated that there is over £400 million in unclaimed pension savings.
The pension tracing service is a free service and allows people to carry out a search of more than 320,000 pension scheme administrators. The service won’t confirm if a person has a pension or what its value is, but does provide details for contacting pension schemes to carry out further enquiries.