How to find old pensions (when you don’t know the details)

Trying to find all your pensions can be a little like finding a needle in a haystack. This is especially true if you have many pots from many different pension companies. Our research tells us that as a nation we underestimate the value of our pensions by up to 33%. That means you could be sitting on more money than you realise!

Thankfully, unearthing all your old pension is easier than ever. Follow the steps in the video or read our handy guide below.

What you'll need

The key to finding all your pensions is its pension policy reference number. You may also see this referred to as a pension number or customer reference number. It’s a unique 16-digit string of letters and numbers that helps your provider track your pension.

You can often find this on an old letter or email from your pension provider, and with it you should have no problem tracking down your pension.

If you don't know your policy number, all is not lost! Here’s how you can track down your lost pension pots.

How to find lost pensions: the short cut

If you have a Penfold pension, you're in luck. That’s because you can use our "Find My Pension" service to help you track down any lost or forgotten pots.

All you need is the name of your old employer. Sign in and hit "Transfer Your Pension", then "Find My Pension" to get started. We'll give you everything you need to retrieve the details from your old pension provider.

If you're not a Penfold saver, then you may have to play detective.

How to find lost pensions: the long way

To find your pension policy number, you’ll need to find out who your pension provider is. Here are three tricks you can try.

1. Use the government’s free, online pension tracing service: Simply type in your old employer’s name into the search box. If no options appear, then move on to step 2.
2. Search 'pension' in your email inbox: Check your email inbox, junk and trash to see if your provider has sent you any emails about your policy. This could be an annual statement, policy document or even a summary of your contributions. Still no luck? Try step 3.
3. Call your old employer: If the pension was provided by a previous job, call or email your old employer and ask where your old workplace pension was set up. You'll only need to know when you worked there and your National Insurance number. They'll be able to confirm the name of your pension provider.

Now you know your old pension provider, all that's left to find is the policy reference number. Simply give your provider a call and tell them your name, the name of your employer, and your National Insurance number. Once you’ve gone through their security questions, they should be able to give you your pension number.

Ta-da! You've found your pension.

Combining your pensions

Once you've gathered all of your old pension details, you may want to combine them into a single pension plan so you never lose sight of them again.

There are many benefits of doing this, including lower fees and easier management. But as with all investments, your capital is at risk. The value of your investment can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest.

Many pension providers offer a transfer service and can organise everything for you. Just be careful as some may charge a fee for this. For more on this, check out our article on how to transfer a pension.

Keep it simple with Penfold

Penfold can transfer all your pensions completely free – no matter how many you have, how small they are or what provider you’re with.

We streamline the entire process to make combining your pensions a doddle. It's entirely online, requires no paperwork and should only take 5 minutes. If you want to transfer existing pensions to Penfold, simply create an account and request a transfer today.