How to Find and Combine Old Pensions

Last updated: July 2026 · 4 min read

The average worker changes jobs many times over a career, and since automatic enrolment began, most of those jobs came with a pension. The result is a trail of small pots left behind at old employers. An estimated £26.6 billion is sitting in lost or forgotten UK pensions, and some of it belongs to people who simply moved house and lost the paperwork.

Tracking yours down is free, and it can add up to real money at retirement. Here is how.

Step 1: list every job you have had

Write down each employer, roughly when you worked there, and whether you think a pension was set up. Dig out any old statements from drawers, lofts or email. If you were auto-enrolled, standard for most jobs since 2012, assume there is a pot unless you actively opted out.

Step 2: use the free Pension Tracing Service

If you cannot find a provider's details, the government's Pension Tracing Service will search a database of more than 200,000 workplace and personal schemes and give you the contact details. It is free, it is on gov.uk, and you can also call it on 0800 731 0193. Have your National Insurance number and former employer names ready.

Step 3: pension dashboards are coming

The government's pension dashboards will eventually let you see every pot, including your State Pension, in one place using a single secure login. Providers have been connecting their data through 2025 and 2026, and public access is being phased in. It is a viewing tool only, so it will not move money or give advice, but it should make lost pots much easier to spot. One warning: scammers have set up fake "dashboards" to harvest personal details, so only ever use the official government service.

Should you combine them?

Once you can see everything, you might bring several defined contribution pots into one. Done for the right pots, that can mean:

• One provider to log in to and one set of paperwork.
• Potentially lower charges, if you are moving from an old, expensive scheme to a cheaper modern one.
• Easier planning, because one balance is simpler to project and to draw from in retirement.

The charges point is worth checking rather than assuming. An old pot could be cheaper than a new one, or could hold a fund you would struggle to buy today, so compare the annual fees before you move anything.

When you should not combine, or should get advice first

Some pensions are worth far more than their transfer value suggests, and moving them throws away guarantees you cannot get back. Check for these before you touch anything:

• Defined benefit (final salary) pensions. These promise a guaranteed income for life. Transferring out is almost always the wrong move, and if the transfer value is over £30,000 you are legally required to take regulated financial advice first.
• Guaranteed annuity rates. Some older pensions promise a fixed, often generous rate when you convert the pot to income. That can be worth far more than today's market rates, and it disappears on transfer.
• Protected tax-free cash or a protected pension age. A few older pots let you take more than 25% tax-free, or access the money earlier. You can lose that by moving.
• Exit fees. Some older contracts charge a penalty to leave. Weigh it against what you would save.

For very small pots, under £10,000, you may be able to take the whole thing as a small-pot lump sum, with 25% tax-free, without it affecting how much you can still pay into other pensions. That is sometimes simpler than transferring.

How a transfer actually works

For defined contribution pots it is straightforward. Ask your chosen provider to arrange the transfer; they usually handle the paperwork with the old provider. A transfer often completes in two to six weeks, though a provider technically has up to six months. When it lands, check the amount received matches what you were quoted, allowing for market movement on invested funds.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Combining pensions can mean giving up valuable guarantees, and a defined benefit transfer over £30,000 legally requires regulated advice. Figures correct as of July 2026 and may change. For advice tailored to you, speak to a financial adviser regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), or get free guidance from MoneyHelper.