If you’ve worked for multiple companies throughout your career, it’s easy to lose track of old pensions, but doing so could mean leaving behind significant retirement savings.
Retirement planning can be a daunting task, especially when you discover that a former employer has dissolved, merged, or filed for bankruptcy.
The good news is that you can still track down old pensions even when the company no longer exists. This guide will show you exactly how.
Jump to a specific section:
- What happens to my pension when I leave a company
- But what happens if that company no longer exists?
- How to find a pension from a dissolved company: step-by-step
- What to do if you still can't find it
- What to do if your company filed for bankruptcy
- Consolidating your pensions
- Conclusion
What happens to my pension when I leave a company
When you leave a company, your pension doesn’t disappear — it simply becomes what’s known as a deferred pension.
Even though you’re no longer contributing, the money you’ve already paid in remains invested by your pension provider. This means your pension pot can still grow over time, though it’s also subject to market fluctuations.
While it’s important to keep track of your old pensions, realistically, it’s easy to lose track of them over the years (especially as life becomes busy and your career moves forward).
The government has a helpful Pension Tracing Service, to give you a hand with locating your old or lost pensions. And once you’ve found them, you can decide whether to leave the pension as it is, transfer it to another provider, or consolidate it with your other pension pots.
But what happens if that company no longer exists?
If your employer has gone out of business, don’t panic — your pension is likely still in existence somewhere.
Pension funds are legally kept separate from the employer’s finances, so they’re not directly impacted if the company dissolves. However, what would have happened next depends on the type of pension scheme you had at the time:
- Defined contribution pensions
These pensions will continue to be managed by the pension provider (separate from your previous employer), but no new contributions will be made. - Defined benefit pensions
Often associated with public sector roles (such as the NHS, fire service, etc.), they are sometimes called final salary or career average pensions.
These usually pay out the promised amounts, or at least 90% of them, even if the employer goes out of business [2].
No matter which type of pension you had, you can contact the pension provider at this stage to ask for an up-to-date statement and confirm all contributions were made up to the company’s closure.
What if my employer didn’t make all of my pension contributions?
If you had a defined contribution pension and your employer hadn’t made all the required contributions you were entitled to, your pension provider may claim compensation from the National Insurance Fund for any missing payments from the previous year.
For older contributions, you’ll need to contact the company’s administrator or liquidator.
If you had a defined benefit pension, this would have been handled for you as the Pension Protection Fund would have stepped in to transfer your pension or pay you compensation.
How to find a pension from a dissolved company: step-by-step
If you think you had a pension with a now-dissolved company, you can follow these steps to track it down:
Step 1: Gather essential documentation
- Look for your old payslips, P60s, or past pension statements.
- Note your National Insurance number, the employer's name, and any details of the pension provider at the time.
Step 2: Try to contact your former employer
- If the company is dissolved, try contacting their successor organisation. They may ask you to provide your employment dates and National Insurance number to track things down.
Step 3: Use the Pension Tracing Service
- Visit Gov.uk’s Pension Tracing Service
- Enter the name of your employer to find the contact details of their pension provider.
Step 4: Contact the pension provider
- Provide your full name (including any previous names), your date of birth, National Insurance number, and details about your employment. Your own address history may be helpful if you have also moved since you worked at the company in question.
If you’re still unable to locate your pension after this, there are additional steps you can take.
What to do if you still can't find it
- Check if the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is involved
The PPF safeguards pensions from insolvent employers. Visit their website to see if your pension scheme is listed. - Contact MoneyHelper
This free, government-backed service offers expert advice on finding lost pensions: www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/contact-us
What to do if your company filed for bankruptcy
When a company files for bankruptcy the process differs slightly from dissolution. Bankruptcy is a legal process involving debt repayment (while dissolution means the company has ceased to exist without debts). Here’s what you should do if your previous employer went bankrupt instead:
- Search bankruptcy court records
These records can be traced through the Gov.uk website and often contain information about pension schemes and trustees:
www.gov.uk/search-bankruptcy-insolvency-register
- Contact the trustee or administrator
They are responsible for managing the company’s closure and should be able to provide details about your previous pension.
Consolidating your pensions
Once you’ve located your old pensions, you may want to combine them into one pot (also known as consolidating).
Consolidating can simplify your retirement planning and paperwork by giving you a clear overview of your retirement money and could also help reduce fees.
Wealthify offers a straightforward pension consolidation service, allowing you to transfer your defined contribution pensions into one simple Personal Pension pot.
Before consolidating, ensure you won’t lose any valuable benefits, such as guaranteed income or favourable terms, associated with your current pensions. Seek independent financial advice if you’re unsure.
Conclusion
Discovering a previous employer has shut up shop can feel overwhelming if you’re worried about the pension scheme you held during that employment.
However, by following the steps outlined in this guide, you can trace and recover your pension savings, ensuring they contribute to a more secure retirement.
If you’re ready to simplify your pension management, consider consolidating your pensions with Wealthify. We offer an award-winning Self-Invested Personal Pension where you can choose from a range of investment styles and ethical options:
With investing, your capital is at risk, so the value of your investments can go down as well as up, which means you could get back less than you initially invested.
Wealthify does not provide advice. If you’re not sure whether investing is right for you, please speak to a financial adviser.
References:
[1]: https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2024/10/brits-missing-31.1bn-in-unclaimed-pension-pots/
[2]: https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-problems/what-happens-to-your-pension-if-your-employer-goes-out-of-business
