You don't want to be waving goodbye to too many of these Until 1988 if a company had a pension scheme you had to pay into it and, if you worked there for a couple of years or more, your pension may have been preserved. Millions of us paid into a personal pension too, often only for a few years. It is easy to lose details or decide it is not worth worrying about.
The
Pension Tracing Service is dedicated to reuniting people with lost funds. We reminded you about this service back in 2010 but it is keen to help more Saga readers find their money. The PTS has details of 200,000 schemes and every year it helps around 16,000 people. New figures show that successful enquirers get an average of £16 a week and a lump sum of £1,900, though some have had lump sums as high as £20,000 and a pension of more than £100 a week. This free service is run by the
Department for Work and Pensions.
You will need to remember where you worked and when. If you have any paperwork, so much the better.
Before 1975, people who left a job normally lost any rights to a pension. Even after that you may have given up those rights if you left within a few years. But it is well worth checking.
To look for a personal pension, it will help if you know the name of the firm that ran it for you or any related name or address.
Further information: Pension Tracing Service -
www.direct.gov.uk - put 'pension tracing service' in the search box - or phone
0845 6002 537. Or you can write to The Pension Tracing Service, Tyneview Park, Whitley Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1BA.
Paul Lewis's opinions are his own and for general information only. Always seek independent, professional, financial advice.