New research from the Pensions Policy Institute indicates that savings pots containing £31.1 billion worth of assets have been ‘forgotten’ by around 3.3 million people across the UK.
The average size of a lost pension pot is highest among the 55-75 age group, at £13,620 while those aged 75 and over have an average of £6,540 unclaimed. Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown has shared seven simple steps people over 55 can take to track these lost pension pots down and help boost their retirement income. She explained: “It’s easy to lose track of a pension - we move jobs and homes and contact details get lost along the way.
” Ms Morrissey continued: “It’s a consequence of auto-enrolment that you get a pension with every job, but the risk is they go astray. It’s not a small problem either - that pension from the job you had ten years ago will have grown and you risk losing out on thousands of pounds that could be used for your retirement income. “The Government has its Pension Tracing Service in place to help people track down lost pensions.
A recent Freedom Of Information (FOI) tabled by Hargreaves Lansdown showed demand is growing, with 31,505 calls made to the service between 1 January and 24 May this year. There have been 276,000 calls made since January 2019 - it’s clearly needed but the reality is it’s barely scratching the surface of the problem.” She added that the Pensions Dashboard will help when it arrives but “.
