How to find an old pension

A “lost” pension is usually not lost at all — it is sitting with a scheme that has simply lost touch with you, often because you moved house and did not tell them. The money is yours. The work is in finding which scheme holds it and confirming the details.

1. Gather what you already have

Before you contact anyone, collect the clues you already own. Old paperwork is the fastest route to a found pension.

• Final payslips and P45s, which often name the pension scheme.
• Annual benefit statements, member booklets and joining letters.
• Old tax returns and any “expression of wish” forms.
• References to trustees or administrators, and any policy or membership numbers.

2. Request your National Insurance record

Your NI record from HMRC lists every employer who ever paid National Insurance for you. This is the single best way to surface employers you have genuinely forgotten. You can view it online at gov.uk, or write to HMRC — Pension Trail will draft that letter for you.

3. List every employer, then trace each scheme

For each employer, use the government's free Pension Tracing Service to find the scheme's current contact details. Schemes merge, rename and wind up; the Tracing Service tracks where they went.

Be clear about what the service does and does not do: it gives you an address. It will not confirm a pension exists, will not give you a value, and will not contact the scheme for you.

4. Write to each scheme

Once you have an address, write a letter asking the questions that determine whether a pension exists and what it is worth. Pension Trail writes this letter for you, including the question almost nobody asks — whether a protected pension age applies.

5. Chase, and keep records

Schemes are obliged to respond, but they can be slow. A polite chase at around 25 working days is reasonable. Keep a copy of every letter and the date you sent it. Pension Trail computes the chase date for you and tracks what each scheme says.

What if the company no longer exists?

Employers disappear, but their pension liabilities do not — they move to a successor scheme, an insurer, or the Pension Protection Fund. See our guide to lost pensions from a company that no longer exists.