Secondsight urges HR teams to help reconnect staff with billions in forgotten pension pots

Employee benefits consultancy Secondsight is urging HR teams to help employees unearth forgotten pension pots ahead of National Pension Tracing Day on Sunday 25th October.

Secondsight, which organises the industry-wide initiative, is encouraging employers to share its free resources to help staff reconnect with savings with which they may have lost touch after changing jobs or moving home.

It comes after the Pensions Policy Institute’s latest research, estimating that more than three million pension pots worth at least £18.7 billion remain mislaid or overlooked across the UK.

The average pot is worth £6,220, rising to £10,710 among those aged between 55 and 74. Almost 2.5 million pots belong to people under 55, accounting for £12.9 billion in savings.

Now in its sixth year, the campaign grew from an idea to encourage people to use the extra hour when the clocks go back on the last Sunday in October to trace forgotten pensions.

Earlier this month, Secondsight held the campaign’s first public awareness event at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent. Its pension consultants spoke with hundreds of passing shoppers, answered questions, and helped people begin tracing old workplace pensions.

Matthew Mitten, director of Secondsight, said: “People can spend years worrying about whether or not they are saving enough for retirement without having a complete picture of what they have already put aside.

 “With nearly £19bn in lost pensions, it shows why we organise National Pension Tracing Day each year. Employers already help their people save but they can also help them find pensions they may have left behind at previous jobs.”

Darren Cole, senior pension and financial wellbeing consultant at Secondsight, said: “When we held our first public event, we saw just how easily pensions could slip out of view while people got on with their lives. A pension from several jobs ago can feel remote until you start talking about what that money could mean for your retirement.

“Having that conversation face to face helped make it feel relevant again. It gave people a reason to look, and an understanding of where they can find the resources with which to do so.”

Employers can find free tracing tools and practical guidance at nationalpensiontracingday.co.uk.

The campaign is supported by Aegon, Aviva, TPT Retirement Solutions, Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Royal London, People’s Pension, Hargreaves Lansdown, the Pensions Policy Institute, the Pay Your Pension Some Attention campaign, and Legal & General.