If you think you may have an old pension but are not sure of the details, the Pension Tracing Service may be able to help. They will try and match the information you give them to one of the schemes on their database and inform you of the results. If they have made a match they will provide you with the contact address of the scheme(s) and you can get in touch with them to see if you have any pension benefits.

They will not be able to tell you if you have any entitlement to pension benefits, only the scheme administrator can give you this information and there is no charge for using this service which typically takes about 15 minutes to complete the form.

To trace a pension scheme by phone or post the Pension Tracing Service can be contacted by calling 0845 600 2537. Telephone lines are open Monday to Friday 8.00am to 8.00pm.

The Pension Tracing Service will need to know at least the name of your previous employer or pension scheme. If you can give them the following information they will have a better chance of finding a current contact and address for the scheme:

the full name and address of your employer who ran the occupational pension scheme you are trying to trace. Did your employer change names, or was it part of a larger group of companies?

the type of pension scheme you belonged to. For example was it an occupational pension scheme, personal pension scheme or a group personal pension scheme?

when did you belong to this pension scheme?

For occupational pension schemes:

– did your employer trade under a different name?
– what type of business did your employer run?
– did your employer change address at any time?

For personal pension schemes:

– what was the name of your personal pension scheme?
– what address was it run from?
– what was the name of the insurance company involved with your personal pension scheme?