Find your forgotten pension

Around three million UK pension pots are classed as lost because their owners no longer receive correspondence or have forgotten where savings from an old job are held. Research published by the Pensions Policy Institute on 12 October 2026 estimates that these pots contain approximately £18.7 billion, with an average value of about £6,000.

The money does not disappear or return to the employer. The problem is that the pension scheme may not have your current address, or you may no longer remember which provider holds the savings. Unless contact is restored, the scheme cannot keep you properly informed or pay benefits when they become due.

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Who should check

Lost pots commonly follow a job change, house move or change of name. Each employer may have used a different pension scheme, so several pots can build up over ten or twenty years. It is particularly worth checking if you worked on short contracts, changed employers frequently or moved home several times.

The research covered around 75% of the UK workplace defined-contribution market by number of pots. Its authors warn that the 2026 methodology differs from earlier surveys, so the £18.7 billion estimate should not be treated as proof that the problem has grown or shrunk.

How to trace a pension for free

1. List every employer. Record the formal company names and approximate dates you worked there. Even a short period of employment may have generated pension contributions.
2. Check old records. Look through payslips, annual pension statements, letters and email. You need the provider's name or at least the employer's name.
3. Use the government tracing service. The free GOV.UK service finds current contact details for a pension scheme using the name of an employer or provider.
4. Contact the provider directly. It may ask for your National Insurance number, previous names and addresses, employment dates and the approximate date the pension was opened.
5. Update your details. Give the scheme your current address, email and telephone number so contact is not lost again.

The government service does not confirm whether a pension exists or show its value. It provides contact details only. The pension provider must identify your record and tell you what is held.

If you do not know the provider

Start with the former employer or its human resources team. If the business failed, check whether its scheme appears on the Pension Protection Fund's list. If an insurer merged or changed its name, MoneyHelper also suggests checking the Association of British Insurers for the successor organisation.

The Pension Tracing Service is available online, by post and by telephone on 0800 731 0175, Monday to Friday from 10am to 3pm. From outside the UK, call +44 191 218 7777.

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Do not transfer immediately

Finding a pension and combining it with another scheme are separate decisions. An older policy may include a guaranteed annuity rate, a bonus, an earlier protected access age or other valuable benefits. A transfer can remove those rights, and the new provider may charge different fees.

First ask for a statement showing the current value, scheme type, charges, guarantees, exit penalties and access rules. Then compare the options. Regulated financial advice may be compulsory for some transfers involving guaranteed benefits worth more than £30,000.

This is not the State Pension

The tracing process covers workplace and personal pensions. The State Pension is calculated separately from your National Insurance record. GOV.UK has another service for checking your forecast, State Pension age and possible gaps in your record.

What to do today: list every UK employer, find one old payslip or pension letter, and start with the free GOV.UK search. Do not pay an intermediary merely to supply a pension scheme's contact details.