Martin Lewis has warned around £30billion is sitting unclaimed in lost pension pots across the UK, with the average forgotten fund worth close to £10,000.
The MoneySavingExpert founder shared the figures during a special pensions edition of The Martin Lewis Money Show on ITV, telling viewers: “Lost pensions are a much, much bigger issue than people think about.”
He highlighted the scale of the problem through the story of Ruth, a pensioner from Berkshire, who traced a forgotten workplace pension worth £45,000.
She had opened the scheme at age 22 and said previous advice from the programme had “shone a light on something” she had never thought to check.
The size of the pot drew audible surprise from the studio audience.
Mr Lewis said: “You were impressed in the studio when that number came up, £45,000, weren’t you? It was a bit of a ‘woo’ in here.”
He said people frequently lose track of pension savings after changing jobs or moving house. According to Mr Lewis, the average lost pension is worth around £9,500.
Forgotten pensions often arise because workers move between employers several times over their careers and fail to keep track of old schemes.
Martin Lewis has warned £30billion is sitting unclaimed
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Changes of address or surname can also make it harder for providers to stay in contact, while mergers and rebrands among pension companies add further confusion.
Mr Lewis stressed the importance of keeping personal details up to date with pension providers, warning if companies cannot reach customers, key information about entitlements or scheme changes may never arrive.
He advised viewers to start by checking old paperwork such as P45s and P60s, which can help identify former employers and pension schemes.
For those unable to find documents, he recommended using the Government’s free Pension Tracing Service, which holds contact details for more than 200,000 schemes.
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AJ BELL / GOV.UKHe also suggested using Gretel, a free tracing platform run by financial firms.
The service performs what Mr Lewis described as a “soft check” to help locate lost pensions, bank accounts and shareholdings.
Anyone who successfully traces a forgotten pension should contact the provider directly and ensure their personal details are fully up to date.