| People who have lost
touch with workplace pension schemes from
previous employers, as well as personal
schemes, are being urged to track them
down to ensure they receive all of their
entitlements in retirement. More than
350,000 people have used the free Pension
Tracing Service since it was set up in
2005 by the Department for Work and
Pensions.
A recent survey of customers shows that
around one in five found a lost pension
after using the service, resulting in
average weekly payments of £16 or an
average lump sum of £1,900, with some
people receiving both a weekly payment and
a lump sum.
Five per cent of customers surveyed
received weekly payments of more than £100
and seven per cent received a lump sum in
excess of £20,000.
Of those surveyed, 68 per cent cited
moving on from an employer as the reason
for losing track of a pension. Other
reasons included moving house, employers
changing name or closing down and simply
losing the paperwork.
Pensions Minister Steve Webb said:
"People need to make sure they’re claiming
everything they’re entitled to in
retirement. If you think you may have had
a pension in a previous job or you once
paid into a personal scheme that you had
forgotten about, then the Pension Tracing
Service may be able to help you to recover
the money you invested."
The service uses a database containing
information on more than 200,000 pension
schemes to provide provides contact
details of the potential scheme
administrator to enable customers to make
further enquiries.
The Pension Tracing Service can be
contacted on 0845 600 2537 (textphone 0845
300 0169). Lines are open Monday to
Friday, 8am to 6pm.
LINK:
The Pensions Tracing Service |
