The pension industry is calling for workers to use the extra hour when the clocks go back at the end of this month to find out if they have a lost pension pot. National Pension Tracing Day, which launched last year, will take place on Sunday 30 October and aims to reunite individuals with lost or forgotten retirement funds.
It is estimated that there is around £20billion in pensions waiting to be claimed, with people losing track of pension savings, most commonly following a change of employment.
There are currently estimated to be 1.6million lost pensions and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) predicts there could be up to 50million lost pensions by 2050 if no action is taken to try and match pensions with owners. The government runs its own tracing service which allows individuals to track lost pots and it is relatively simple to use.
Partner and Actuary at Quantum Advisory, Stuart Price, supports the initiative, explaining how easy it is for pensions to get lost. Stuart said:
“All too often, people change job and move address without notifying their pension providers and as the pension provider cannot contact them the pension is forgotten about by the individual. The huge sum of money lying idle in pension pots is staggering, especially as it is so easy to find out if you own one of the 1.6million missing pensions. It could be as simple as spending less than an hour on the computer doing some research and using the government’s dedicated lost pension website.”
The government’s Pension Tracing Website has helpful information and allows people to start the tracking process. Visit https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details.