Pension Tracing

Pension Tracing

Jamie Benn talks us through how to trace our old pensions.

How do I track my pension claim and what information do I need to track unclaimed pensions?

We get this a lot. A big part of finding an old pension is collecting all the information before we can move forward.

There is a tool that is brilliant for tracking any unclaimed pensions. It’s been set up by the government to ensure there are no scams or potential fraudulent activity. It’s called the pension tracing service. It’s free to use online and you can also phone up to talk to advisors who talk you through the information that you need.

A good start is your personal details – name, address, date of birth, a form of ID, your National Insurance number and any relevant information about the pensions you’re trying to track down.

How many years do you need to contribute to get a full pension?

If we’re talking about the state pension, you need 30 years of national insurance contributions. That would achieve the maximum or full state pension. You can’t expand beyond that.

If you don’t get to the full 30 years, a tiered system is used based on the number of years’ full national insurance contributions you have made.

What is a pension review? Is it necessary for all pensions?

A pension review is when we meet up to discuss your pension’s performance, past and future. We will often use it to discuss your goals and set a timeline to stop working, whether that be earlier or later.

The review will see whether we’re in line with your requirements. You might be hoping to retire at 50, but your pension pot is a long way away from that. In that case we’d have to make some big changes.

Or, vice versa, you might have thought you’d have to retire later but can actually stop working at an earlier date. A good review of pensions and proper planning can give you the best chance to achieve your goals, or at least understand where you are along the way.

Can I lose my pension in the UK? How do I find my old and lost pensions?

We touched upon finding them using the pension tracing service. I would always advocate using a government tool as the first point of contact, as you’ll receive impartial advice and it’s free to use.

Unless you’ve met some really unsavoury people in your time and been lied to, no, it’s not very easy to lose a pension.

There are various things like pension sharing orders or earmarking that may come from divorce, which may limit your entitlement to the full pension. But once you’ve paid into that pension, it isn’t money that’s going to be lost. It is just money that you may or may not be able to access until age 55 or when you come to retire.

Can you find older pensions acquired abroad, like in the US?

There isn’t a far reaching tool that would allow us to do that. There’s no pension tracing service for that unless you’ve paid into a kind of GBP fund, where you’ve been UK domiciled while out into the US.

If the pension was in US currency there’s no simple route to find out where that pension is. If you’re in a situation like that, I’d advise you to find as much paperwork as you can relevant to the fund. You could also speak to people you worked with during that time if you’re struggling to find information about the provider.

If you can reach the provider, much like in the UK, there is a system in place to identify you. It’s not quite as simple, but it is certainly possible. It would just be more labour intensive.

What happens when a pension recipient dies? What happens to the pension fund of the deceased?

I’m afraid I can’t give you a simple answer to that, but I understand why people would really like to know.

It vastly depends on the circumstances and the pension itself. It depends on the age of the recipient, whether the fund has been drawn on yet – or crystallised, as we call it. Many factors would dictate what would happen on that pension upon death.

A beneficiary might receive the full entitlement for the rest of their life, although there could be a large amount of tax on that upfront. Or, you may only receive a small amount of income from it.

Is there an app service that tracks pension funds?

If you’re trying to track down a pension fund that you’re entitled to, the government’s pension tracing service is the one. I don’t believe they have an app. It’s all done over the internet or over the phone.

If we’re talking about actually tracking your pension fund and how much is in it, a lot of funds do offer that kind of service. It would come down to the provider themselves and the type of scheme that you are using.

How can a financial adviser help if somebody is looking to trace their pensions?

In all aspects of advice, it all comes down to pointing you in the right direction. We often help with tracing an existing pension. We have the knowledge and experience, so the assumptions we make can be quite accurate.

A great place to start would be the government tracing service. Get as much information as you can from that at the start and we will help you move forward from there.

Pension tracing services are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Approved by The Openwork Partnership on 28/02/2024.