Martin Lewis ‘enormous’ pensions warning as ‘most don’t even know’ | Personal Finance | Finance
The consumer expert said there could be “enormous money” on offer if you have any lost pensions you could claim. He said there is some £87billion of lost pension assets out there.
One person called David contacted the show with their success story.
He had a contracted-out pension with a previous employer where they had paid in over several years. He cancelled their payments and forgot about the retirement pot until a few years ago.
Once he located the funds again, he discovered it had grown from £22,000 to more than £89,000. You can lose track of a pension if you change your details such as changing employer or moving home, and your pension provider is not kept up to date.
£150,000 boost
Mr Lewis said he knows of people who have had more than £150,000 in a pension that they have tracked down. He commended David for realising he had lost touch with his pension, as many people don’t even know they have a lost pension.
The expert said: “At least he remembered. Most people don’t even know where their pension is or what it is about. That’s why we need to reconnect them.”
Speaking about who could be affected, Mr Lewis said: “There is a real chance, especially the older you are, especially if you’ve moved house many times, If you didn’t update your contact details, you changed job, if your pension provider didn’t hear, or your investment company merged or renamed, you are potentially likely to get money.
“Just to say, on pensions that average value of lost assets is £9,500, so we need to try and get people their money back.”
How can I check if I have a lost pension?
If you want to check if you have any lost pensions, Mr Lewis said the first port of call is to contact your ex employer, to ask for the details of the pension scheme. He said you may also be able to track down the pension of a person who has died in this way.
The Government also has a pension tracing service you can use, which is available on the gov.uk website. This service has the details of more than 200,000 schemes, and you can use it to locate the scheme you were in. Then you can contact the provider to see if they have a pension in your name.
