Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of people have lost track of a pension, research conducted by Opinium on behalf of Hargreaves Lansdown has revealed.

The survey of 2,000 people discovered that a further 20 per cent of respondents were unsure if they had lost track of a pension or not.

Additionally, the research discovered an age disparity in respondents who reported losing track of their pension, with 43 per cent of people in the 18-34 age group saying they had lost track of a pension compared to 6 per cent of over 55s.

It was also discovered that 60 per cent of people had more than one pension and almost a third of people (29 per cent) said they would like to consolidate their pensions.

Commenting on the figures, Hargreaves Lansdown senior pensions retirement analyst, Helen Morrissey, stated: “Most people will change jobs several times during their working lives, and this means we are likely to accumulate several pensions.

"Over time, it can be easy to lose track – you may move jobs or house and don’t update your contact details. But this can have a major impact on your retirement planning.”

Morrissey stated that finding a lost pension could be the difference between struggling to make ends meet or being a bit more comfortable in retirement, suggesting that if savers are worried they have lost track of a pension, the government’s pension tracing service can help them locate it.

However, Morrissey clarified that there are some things savers should consider before consolidating, explaining that there could be terms on old pensions that mean savers might lose out on valuable benefits or cost them money if they do decide to consolidate.

"For instance, older policies might incur expensive exit fees if you try and move them, or they may have attractive terms like guaranteed annuity rates," she stated, suggesting that checking for these sorts of things in advance can save a lot of hassle for savers and give them a clearer idea of what they have accumulated so far.


This article first appeared on our sister title, Pensions Age.

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