Five ways for employers to help people find lost or forgotten pension money

As winter approaches and employees experience the financial impact of rising energy bills and the cost of living crisis, Punter Southall Aspire, the firm behind National Pension Tracing Day offers employers five ways to help their workers trace lost or forgotten pensions.

This comes as new research from Wagestream reveals 70% of UK employees are now worrying more about money, with 76% suffering worse mental health as a result, and 52% say financial concerns are worrying them most over the next three months, up from 40% in November 2021[i].

National Pension Tracing Day is on Sunday 30 October – the day the clocks go back. The campaign invites people to use that extra hour to join in a ‘Great Pension Treasure Hunt’ and search for lost and forgotten pensions. It’s a proactive way for employers to support staff during the difficult financial months ahead, with the potential for employees to find unexpected money. 

Punter Southall Aspire recommends employers share five easy steps with their employees to help them trace lost or forgotten pensions:

Step 1 – Retrace career steps – People can start by making a list of places they’ve worked in the past and roughly how long they worked there. Looking through old CVs, payslips, P45s or P60s can help.

Step 2 – Check old papers – Search through paperwork and emails for old pension statements. Have a good hunt for a pension statement for each place worked. People should also think back to whether they ever had a separate personal pension and if they ever ‘contracted out’ of part of the State Pension[ii]. It could mean they had a personal pension.

Step 3 – Sense check – Look through the paperwork to check if contact details are up to date for each pension pot. If they are not, get in touch with the provider or administrator to update them.  At the same time ask for an up- to-date statement. It could offer a welcome surprise.

Step 4 – Mind the gap – If people spot any gaps in their pension history it’s time for some detective work.  For jobs where they don’t have a pension statement, try to find contact details for the pension provider or administrator. They could contact the employer’s HR department directly, or use the government’s Pension Tracing Service.

If old employers can’t be found, they may have changed their name or merged with another organisation. Try searching Companies House – it lists companies’ previous names with their current registered office address.  If people worked for a charity, they could search the Charities Register.

Employers may have used a personal pension (possibly called a ‘group personal pension’) or a group stakeholder plan as their workplace pension. Find the name of the pension provider, perhaps by contacting an old employer, speaking to ex-work colleagues or finding old paperwork.

Step 5 – Get in touch – Get in touch with the provider or administrator and check if they’ve got any record of a pension. People will need to prove who they are so will need their National Insurance number and possibly other details. It’s also worth asking them to check if they did have a pension with them but transferred it elsewhere.

Not everyone will find a pension, but for those that do the final part of the treasure hunt is:

• find out how much is in the pot and ask for an up-to-date statement
• give them up-to-date contact details so the provider can keep in touch in future
• ask if they can be registered to access the pension information online
• Celebrate! They have found lost treasure they had forgotten all about

Punter Southall Aspire has also created a free communications toolkit for employers and Trustees, which includes a set of ‘ready to go’ communications including posters, intranet banners, news article, an email campaign, a pension tracing checklist, a step-by-step video and much more.

Alan Morahan, Chief Commercial Officer, says, “Supporting employees with financial education and advice is vital as the cost of living crisis starts to impact people’s pockets. A quick easy win is to encourage employees to track down a lost or forgotten pension, it could make the world of difference to their retirement plans.”

Since the campaign launched last year, one person found three pensions worth a total of £55,000, someone else managed to retire seven years earlier than they’d planned and another found two pensions, worth over £80,000. They were very grateful to their employer who had raised awareness.

Johanna Nelson, Communications Director, Punter Southall Aspire, added, “As many as 1 in 30 people could have a pension they didn’t know about or had forgotten they had.  Supporting the Great Pension Treasure Hunt could help your staff find money they never knew existed which could be life changing.”

Employers who want to take part can go to the website or download the communications toolkit here.