Lost Pension Tracing Record

Who this is for

Find the pensions you have lost track of. Your working life is rebuilt one employer at a time with the details a scheme will ask for, pensions you took out yourself are listed, and every enquiry is logged with its reference and result until each is found.

Anyone who has changed jobs several times, moved house since leaving an employer or changed their name, and suspects an old workplace or personal pension is still out there.

What this helps you track

• Every employer you worked for, with years, town and staff number
• Whether you joined a pension there, as far as you remember
• Personal pensions and plans you took out yourself
• Each tracing enquiry with its reference and the reply
• Schemes found, with policy numbers and statements asked for

How to use it

1. Write your name, any former names you worked under and the date you started looking.
2. List every employer, oldest first, with the years you were there, the town, any staff or payroll number and the scheme name if you know it. Old payslips and letters help.
3. Add any personal pensions or plans you paid into yourself, with whatever you still have from the provider.
4. Ask each former employer, scheme or provider, or a pension tracing service where one exists, and log every enquiry with its reference and reply.
5. When a scheme is found, tick Found, write the policy number and ask for a statement of its value.
6. Fill it in on paper or in the browser version, which saves in your own browser.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Is there a service that finds old pensions?

Some countries run a free service that finds a scheme's contact details from an employer or provider name, such as the UK's Pension Tracing Service. Check what exists where you are, and be wary of firms that charge to do the same.

What if the employer no longer exists?

Write down its name, any later name after a takeover and the town. A tracing service, or the business that took it over, can often point you to whoever now runs the pension scheme.

What details will a scheme ask for?

Usually your full name and any former names, date of birth, addresses while you worked there, the dates you were employed and a tax or staff number. Keep the identification numbers themselves somewhere safe, not on this sheet.

How does this fit with the pension and policy schedule?

Use this record while you are searching. Once a pension is found, add it to the pension and policy schedule, which keeps every plan you hold on one list for you and your family.