Major insurance firm launches simple way for 2.8million Brits to find up to £10k in lost savings for retirement

SAVERS who have lost track of retirement pots can use a simple tool to locate their nest egg.

There are a record number of ‘lost pensions’ worth a staggering £26.6bn sitting in inactive accounts, according to insurance giant Aviva.

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The typical lost pension pot is worth around £9,500 and it’s thought as many are 2.8million are waiting to be claimed.

It comes after more than ten million new people started saving into pensions in 2012 for the first time, as a result of auto-enrolment into schemes by employers.

However, as people move jobs, move home, get married, and lose touch with their pension providers.  

To help reunite savers with their cash, Aviva has launched a ‘find and combine’ pension tracing, checking and consolidation service will help people find one of millions of savings pots.

The service takes approximately 10 minutes to complete to pensions and will also checks them for certain valuable or safeguarded benefits and fees.  

Users are then presented with their own online pension report in an easy-to-understand format, to help them consider their next steps.

Savers could consolidate pension pots or speak to an independent financial adviser.

Anyone who uses the service is under no obligation to transfer or consolidate any of the pensions that Aviva finds on the customer’s behalf.

Since a pilot of the scheme within Aviva’s Workplace pension business in 2022, the firm tracked down and reconnected customers with £87 million of lost pensions, worth an average of £15,000.

The largest single pension found to date is worth more than £350,000.

One in fifty of the checked pensions had a valuable or safeguarded benefit attached to the policy, such as a protected tax free sum, a loyalty bonus or life assurance, that would have been lost had they simply consolidated their pensions without checking.

Joanne Phillips, managing director of direct wealth at Aviva said:“It’s not surprising that people lose track of their pensions. Some policies date back decades.

 “Savers shouldn’t worry if they think they may have lost a pension.

“They should take reassurance that this money is still waiting for them and with just a few personal details, and as little as ten minutes of time, Aviva’s new Find and Combine service will do the finding for you, saving you valuable time and effort.”

How does the tool work?

Users will need to apply online using Aviva’s tool  aviva.co.uk/retirement/pensions/find-and-combine/ giving as much information as you can about where you’ve worked and any pension you might have had.

The application can be expected to take between 10 and 20 minutes.

The tool checks for benefit or if there are charges for moving your pension.

All the information is then brought together in a dashboard where you can decide next steps.

You can bring them together into a new or existing pension.

It’s important to look at ongoing fees and charges when deciding where to house your retirement cash.

Lloyds Bank recently launched a ‘Ready-Made Pension’ for customers of Hlaifax, Lloyds, and Bank of Scotland.

The product can be used to consolidate multiple pensions and has an annual account fee of 0.3%, or a minimum of £5 a month, ongoing investment charges of up to 0.24%, and a transaction cost of 0.14%.

You can also use government’s online Pension Tracing Service (or call 0800 731 0193) to help track down lost pensions.

Should you consolidate a pension?

When it comes to pension consolidation, Aviva research found that only one in three proceed because they fear making mistakes or losing money.

One in five don’t feel confident enough to do it themselves, and a similar number don’t know how to consolidate their pensions.

However, bringing pensions into one pot can have some major financial benefits.

It means just one set of management fees, so you could be better off. And with many providers, the bigger your pension, the lower the percentage charge on fees, which again could mean less of your hard-earned cash is eaten away.

Gathering up your lost pensions can give you a better view of your retirement money and what it could be worth in future, helping with planning.

And just one pension could also mean less life admin too.

However, before moving you should check whether any valuable benefits could be lost.

And also check for charges and where you can invest. You may be required to get advice which you’ll have to pay for.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk