How to trace a workplace pension from a job you left years ago

Ask a group of people in their fifties how many workplace pensions they have, and the answers tend to come with a pause. There is the current one, of course. There is probably one from the job before. Then there was the summer at the insurance office, the five years at the council, and the firm that was taken over and changed its name twice.

None of this is unusual. Since automatic enrolment began in 2012, most employees who change job leave a pension behind. The Department for Work and Pensions said in 2023 that more than 12 million deferred pots worth under £1,000 had already been created. Most are not lost so much as out of touch: the address on file is old, or the scheme has changed hands.

Why pensions get lost

Workplace pensions are tied to the employer at the time you were paying in. When you leave, the pension usually stays where it is and keeps its value, but letters go to the address the scheme holds. Move house a couple of times and statements stop arriving. Meanwhile employers merge, schemes are bought by other providers and names change, so the brand on your old payslip may no longer exist.

The money is still yours. The task is simply to reconnect the right scheme with the right person.

What the tracing service does, and does not do

The Pension Tracing Service is a free government service run by The Pension Service. You search for an employer or pension provider and it gives you up-to-date contact details for the scheme. You can also search on someone else’s behalf with their permission.

GOV.UK is clear about the limits. The service does not tell you whether you have a pension with a scheme, and it does not tell you what any pension is worth. Those answers come from the scheme itself once you contact it.

What to gather before you start

The online search needs only the name of the employer or the pension provider. The scheme, when you contact it, will need enough to find your record. It helps to have:

• the employer’s name, and any later names if it was taken over;
• roughly when you worked there, even if only the year;
• where the workplace was, and your home address at the time;
• your National Insurance number, to give to the scheme directly;
• any old paperwork: payslips, a P60, a joining letter or a scheme booklet.

Old payslips are particularly useful, because the pension deduction line often names the scheme or the provider.

Tracing a pension, step by step

1. Make a simple list of every employer you can remember, with approximate dates.
2. Search each name on the Pension Tracing Service and note the contact details it returns.
3. Write to, or call, each scheme. Give your full name, any previous names, date of birth, National Insurance number, addresses and dates of employment.
4. Ask whether they hold a pension for you and, if so, for a current statement and confirmation of any guarantees or special features.
5. Update your address with every scheme you find, and keep the statements together.

An example search

Illustrative example

Helen, 56, invented for this example, lists four past employers and works through them over a fortnight.

Retailer, 1990 to 1994Scheme found, small pot

Building society, 1994 to 2001Now part of a bank scheme

Temping agency, 2001No pension held

Local council, 2001 to 2013Defined benefit, statement sent

Outcome3 pensions, all addresses updated

An invented example to show the process. Results depend on the schemes and records involved.

Notice that one search led nowhere. Not every job came with a pension, especially before automatic enrolment, and that is useful to know too.

What about pensions dashboards?

The government has been building pensions dashboards: online services that will show all your pensions, including the State Pension, in one place. Pension schemes in scope were required to connect to the system by 31 October 2026. The Pensions Regulator and the FCA describe the dashboards as not yet available to the public, and no public launch date had been confirmed when we checked. Until then, the tracing service and the schemes themselves remain the route.

Firms that offer to trace pensions for a fee

Some companies offer to find lost pensions in return for a fee or a share of the pot. The government has warned people to be careful of firms offering to trace lost pensions or obtain pension statements, because those services are available free. A firm that finds a pension and then urges a quick transfer, particularly into unfamiliar investments, should be treated with caution. Our guide to the checks before a pension transfer explains the warning signs.

Who this matters for, and what to check

Tracing is worth doing for anyone who has changed jobs more than a couple of times, anyone who has moved house without updating old schemes, and anyone approaching the age when they might start drawing a pension. It is also useful when helping a parent put their affairs in order, with their permission.

Once every pension is found, the natural next step is to understand your options. A free Pension Wise appointment covers defined contribution pots, and our article on the tax-free quarter of a pension explains the tax.