People aged between 55 and 75 urged to make pension check to boost pot by £13,620

Millions of pounds could still be sitting in lost pension pots without people even realising it. While many workers pay into a pension throughout their careers, changing jobs can make it easy to lose track of older workplace schemes over time. That could mean some people are missing out on thousands of pounds that could boost their retirement savings.

People aged between 55 and 75 could have even more to gain, according to research published in 2024. The figures suggested the average lost pension pot for people in that age group was worth £13,620. The research also found millions of pension pots across the UK had gone unclaimed.

According to the 2024 study by the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), sponsored by the Pension Attention campaign, there were around 3.3 million lost pension pots across the UK.

The research found those lost pensions were worth a combined £31.1 billion, with the average lost pot across all age groups valued at £9,470. It also found the value of lost pension pots had increased by 60% since 2018.

The report suggested the rise was likely linked to people changing jobs more frequently, alongside the growth of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions.

The Pension Attention campaign encouraged Brits to check whether they had lost track of any old pension pots by using free pension tracing tools or retracing their employment history.

The research was published ahead of National Pension Tracing Day, which takes place annually to raise awareness of lost pots.

The Pension Attention campaign was coordinated by the Association of British Insurers and the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, with funding from organisations across the pensions industry.

People who think they may have lost track of an old pension can also use the UK Government’s Pension Tracing Service to help find previous workplace or personal pension schemes.