How do I find out what pensions I have?

Quick answer: There is no single place yet that shows every pension you have. Start with a list of every job you have had, check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK, use the free government Pension Tracing Service to get contact details for each scheme, then write to each provider with your National Insurance number and date of birth to ask what they hold.

Why is it so easy to lose a pension?

Since 2012, employers have had to enrol most staff into a workplace pension automatically. Change jobs a few times and you can have a pot with each employer, often with a provider whose name you never noticed. Move house without telling them, and the letters stop.

Older pensions are harder still. Companies merge, schemes are taken over, and pension providers rename themselves, so the name on an old payslip is often not the name holding the money today.

Step by step: finding every pension you have

1. List every job. Write down each employer, roughly when you worked there and where. Include part-time and short jobs, and any time you were self-employed and paid into a personal pension. If you can’t remember them all, your HMRC online account shows recent employment, and HMRC can help with older records.
2. Gather any paperwork. Old payslips, P60s, annual pension statements and welcome letters often name the scheme or provider. Search your email for “pension” and “annual statement”.
3. Check your State Pension. Your State Pension forecast shows what you are on track for from the government, and can show if you were “contracted out”, which means some of your National Insurance went into a private pension instead.
4. Get contact details for each scheme. The free government Pension Tracing Service searches by employer or provider name and gives you the current contact details.
5. Write to each provider. Give your full name, any previous names and addresses, date of birth, National Insurance number and the dates you worked there. Ask whether they hold a pension for you and what it is worth.
6. Keep a record and chase. Replies come by post over weeks, in different formats. Note who you have written to and follow up anyone who hasn’t answered.

What about the pensions dashboard?

Pensions dashboards will one day let you see all your pensions online in one place, including your State Pension. They are not open to the public yet. Until they are, you need to find each pension yourself or have someone do it for you.

Signs you may have a pension you’ve forgotten

• You worked for a large employer, the NHS, a council, a school or the civil service, even for a year or two
• You had a job any time after 2012, when automatic enrolment started
• You were contracted out of SERPS in the 1980s or 1990s
• You have moved house since leaving a job
• You have changed your name

If you would rather someone did it for you

Tracing pensions yourself costs nothing but time. If you don’t have the time, or the letters and ID checks are putting you off, tell us what you remember and we’ll put you in touch with the right service:

• Pension Pie, our sister company, traces pensions of any size for one fixed fee of £249 including VAT. It never takes a percentage of what it finds and never moves your money.
• An FCA-authorised adviser may trace your pensions as part of an advice service, typically where they total £75,000 or more. The adviser explains any fees before you go ahead.

Frequently asked questions

More on finding lost pensions

• Can I find my pension with my National Insurance number?
• How to find a pension from an old job
• Finding a pension with a provider that changed its name
• Finding a pension from years ago
• How to check your pensions online
• Pensions dashboards: when can I see all my pensions?
• SERPS: how to check and find yours
• The government Pension Tracing Service or paid tracing?
• What could an old pension be worth?