At Pensions Advice UK, we help connect individuals with services that can assist with pension tracing.
Depending on your preferences, you may be introduced to:
- An FCA-authorised adviser who may assist with tracing as part of their service
- A non-advisory pension tracing only service
Two ways to trace your pensions
Which route is right depends on what you want once your pensions are found.
Route 1
Through an FCA-authorised adviser
- Who it suits: people who want advice on what to do with their pensions once they are found.
- Cost: free to enquire. The adviser firm explains any fees before you proceed.
- Tracing: the firm may trace your pensions as part of its advice service, typically where they total £75,000 or more.
Route 2
Tracing only, with Pension Pie
- Who it suits: people who simply want their old pensions found, whatever their size.
- Cost: a paid service. Pension Pie currently charges £249 to trace up to five pensions.
- Advice: none. Pension Pie tells you what you have and where it is held.
Looking for the government’s free Pension Tracing Service?
Pensions Advice UK is not the government service. The government’s Pension Tracing Service is free and gives you the contact details for a workplace or personal pension scheme. You then contact each scheme yourself. Find it at gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details.
What pensions can be traced?
- Workplace pensions from old jobs, including final salary schemes and pots from automatic enrolment
- Pensions from employers that no longer exist, or that merged or were taken over
- Personal pensions with providers that have since changed their name
- Contracted-out SERPS pensions from the 1980s and 1990s
- Pensions you have forgotten even after retiring
What you’ll need to start
You don’t need paperwork to enquire. The more you remember, the quicker it goes:
- Names of past employers, roughly when you worked there and where
- Any pension providers you remember
- Your National Insurance number and date of birth, which providers use to find your records
- Previous names and addresses
Submitting your enquiry is free. Any fees for advice or services will be explained to you directly before you proceed.
We do not provide financial advice. We act solely as an introducer.
Frequently asked questions
Are you the government’s Pension Tracing Service?
No. Pensions Advice UK is an introducer, not a government service. The government’s Pension Tracing Service is free and gives you contact details for pension schemes. We introduce people to services that do the tracing work for them.
How much does pension tracing cost?
Enquiring with us is free. Pension Pie charges a fixed £249 including VAT and never takes a percentage of what it finds. Where pensions total £75,000 or more, an FCA-authorised adviser may trace them as part of an advice service and will explain any fees first.
Can a pension be found if the company no longer exists?
Usually, yes. Pension money is held separately from the employer, normally by an insurer or the scheme’s trustees, so it is still there when a company closes or is taken over.
Can I find my pension with my National Insurance number?
Not on its own. Providers use it to match you to their records once you contact them. Our guide explains how to use your NI number to find a pension.
How long does pension tracing take?
It depends on the providers. Many reply by post, so expect it to take weeks rather than days, and longer for old schemes that have moved more than once.
More on finding lost pensions
- How do I find out what pensions I have?
- 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?