Tracing old pensions

It's important to track down all the different pension schemes you've paid into, so you can be sure you're claiming everything you're entitled to in retirement.

How can I trace my old pension schemes?

If you're struggling to stay on top of the pension schemes you’ve paid into throughout your working career, the Pension Tracing Service on GOV.UK can help. This free service traces a pension you've lost track of, even if you don't have the contact details of the pension provider.

Before using the service, it's a good idea to collect as much information as you can, including:

• the name of your previous employer or pension service (you'll need this to get started)
• any previous names it had
• the type of business it ran
• whether it changed address
• when you belonged to the scheme.

The Pension Tracing Service will only tell you the contact details of the pension's administrator. You'll then need to contact the pension administrator to find out whether you have a pension with them. If you do, you can then ask the administrator its value and ask for it to be paid out. 

Are there other ways to trace my old pensions?

Another service available to you is Gretel. Gretel launched in April 2022 – it's completely free and can help you find all types of financial assets, including lost pensions.

As Gretel is so new, the financial institution that your pension is with may not be signed up to it yet, so Gretel might not be able to find it. However, new financial institutions are being added to the service all the time and Gretel will continue to search for your assets every 2 weeks. So if it doesn’t find your pension straight away, it may find it in the future.

Find out more on the Gretel website