Quick answer: You can trace a lost pension for free using the government’s Pension Tracing Service. It gives you a provider’s contact details, but not whether you have a pension there or what it’s worth. Writing to providers, proving your identity and chasing replies is left to you. A paid tracing service makes sense if you don’t have the time or find the admin hard. An honest one charges a fixed fee and never touches your money.
What are the five steps of tracing a lost pension?
Finding a lost pension properly takes five steps. The free service helps with one of them.
- Work out who you worked for. Every employer, going back decades, including ones that have since merged, renamed or closed.
- Find out which provider ran each scheme. Schemes change hands, and the name on your old payslip is often not the name that holds the money today.
- Get that provider’s current contact details. This is the step the free service covers.
- Write to each provider. Ask whether they hold a pension in your name and what it’s worth. Each one wants proof of identity, and many reply by post.
- Chase and collate the replies. Responses arrive over weeks, in different formats, and some need following up more than once.
Steps 1, 2, 4 and 5 are where the time goes. With five or six old employers, that’s a lot of letters, phone queues and waiting.
What does the free government Pension Tracing Service do?
The government’s Pension Tracing Service is free, run by the Department for Work and Pensions, and genuinely useful. You give it the name of a former employer or pension provider. It gives you back the current contact details for that scheme.
That’s where it stops. It won’t tell you whether you have a pension there, or what it’s worth. Everything after that is down to you.
Who should use a paid pension tracing service?
If you’ve got the time and you’re happy writing letters and sitting in phone queues, do it yourself. It costs nothing.
A paid service makes sense if you:
- Don’t have the time. Working full time, raising a family or caring for someone.
- Find the admin hard. Forms, letters and ID checks aren’t for everyone, and that’s nothing to be embarrassed about.
- Are sorting things out for someone else. For example, a late partner or parent whose paperwork you don’t know.
- Have tried and stalled. You’ve started, but the replies dried up or the trail went cold.
For these people, the choice isn’t free versus paid. It’s paid versus not done at all.
Is paid pension tracing a scam? How to tell
Guide sites are right to warn people about pension scams. But a fee on its own isn’t the warning sign. What the firm wants from you, and what it does with your money, is.
| An honest tracing service | A warning sign |
|---|---|
| A fixed fee, stated upfront | A percentage of whatever is found |
| Never touches or moves your money | Pushes you to transfer your pension |
| You contact them | They cold-call you (pension cold-calling is illegal in the UK) |
| Says your pension stays where it is until you decide | Promises access to your pension before age 55 |
| Clear company number and registration details | Vague about who they are or where they’re based |
| Gives you time to decide | Says the offer ends today |
If something doesn’t feel right, check the FCA’s ScamSmart guidance before you go any further.
Why does Pensions Advice UK recommend Pension Pie?
First, so you know where we stand: Pension Pie is our sister company. Both are part of Momentum Ventures Group. We’re not neutral, so judge what follows on its merits.
When people ask us for help finding a lost pension, we recommend Pension Pie® because:
- It does all five steps, not just one. Pension Pie works out your employment history with you, identifies the providers, writes to each one, chases the replies and gives you a clear picture of what you have.
- The fee is fixed and upfront. £249 including VAT. Pension Pie never takes a cut of what it finds.
- Your money stays where it is. Pension Pie never touches or moves your pensions. What you do next is your decision.
- There’s a money-back guarantee, subject to its terms.
- You deal with real people. A UK team speaks to every client, rather than leaving you with a form and a wait.
Where clients have told Pension Pie the value of a pension it found, the average is around £16,000.
When we wouldn’t recommend it
If you know exactly which provider holds your pension and you’re happy to write to them yourself, you don’t need to pay anyone. Use the free government Pension Tracing Service and save your money.
Pension Pie doesn’t give financial advice. If you later want help deciding what to do with what’s found, that’s your choice, in your own time.
Frequently asked questions
Is the government Pension Tracing Service free?
Yes. The government Pension Tracing Service is run by the Department for Work and Pensions and is free to use. It gives you the current contact details for a pension scheme when you enter the name of a former employer or provider.
Will the government Pension Tracing Service tell me how much my pension is worth?
No. It only gives you contact details. You then need to write to each provider, prove your identity and ask whether they hold a pension in your name and what it’s worth.
Is paying to trace a pension a scam?
Not in itself. Warning signs are a percentage fee, pressure to transfer your pension, cold calls, or promises of access before age 55. An honest service charges a fixed fee upfront and never touches or moves your money.
How much does Pension Pie cost?
Pension Pie charges one fixed fee of £249 including VAT, paid upfront. It never takes a percentage of any pension it finds, and offers a money-back guarantee, subject to its terms.
Does Pension Pie move my pension?
No. Pension Pie never touches or moves your pensions. They stay with their current providers, and what you do next is your decision.