A new Government tool could help millions of Britons recover lost pension pots worth an average of £9,470, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed.
The Pensions Dashboard, currently under development, aims to ensure workers can track down all their pension savings in one place.
This initiative comes as many people lose track of their pension pots when changing jobs, resulting in hard-earned contributions going unclaimed.
Under the system, all pension providers are required to register their schemes, shifting responsibility away from individuals having to hunt down their lost retirement savings.
Around 3.3 million pension pots have been lost across the UK, according to a 2024 report from the Pension Policy Institute. For savers aged between 55 and 75, the average value of lost pensions rises significantly to £13,620 per pot.
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Britons are being encouraged to get take advantage of DWP tool
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Experts warn the situation is likely to worsen as career patterns evolve, with more people switching jobs frequently and accumulating multiple pension pots.
The trend of increased job mobility means more pension accounts are being opened and potentially misplaced throughout workers’ careers.
Notably, the Pensions Dashboard will provide users with a comprehensive view of their retirement savings, including personal pensions, workplace schemes and state pension entitlements.
Through this platform, the Government aims to give savers a clearer picture of their total retirement funds by displaying all pension pots in a single location.
This mandatory registration ensures that providers, rather than individuals, are responsible for making pension information visible and accessible.
The tool represents a significant shift from the current approach, where savers must actively search for their missing pension pots.
All pension schemes must register with the service by October 31, 2026, a deadline set by the previous Conservative government.
Labour’s pensions minister Emma Reynolds has confirmed this deadline will remain in place.
However, speaking in October, Reynolds said it was “too early to confirm a launch date for public use” of the Pensions Dashboard.
The minister described the development of the system as a “challenging and complex undertaking”.
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The timeline means pension providers have just over 20 months to ensure their schemes are fully registered with the service. Two distinct versions of the dashboard will be available when the system launches.
To begin, the first version will be run by the Government’s MoneyHelper service, offering basic functionality to view all pension pots in one place.
A second wave of dashboards will then be launched by private companies, building on the core pension-tracking features.
These private versions will offer additional tools and services, potentially including pension consolidation options and investment advice.
In the meantime, savers can use the government’s Pension Tracing Service, launched in 2016, to locate their lost pension pots.
