Money Matters Jan 12

Windfall Pension

A friend of mine who has just retired received information about a Pension Scheme which he totally forgot he had.  In the early 80’s I worked for a number of companies and feel sure that there would have been Pensions with them but I have no records now.  How would I go about checking?

Answer:

There are a couple of things you can do starting with a visit to the Unclaimed Asset Register (UAR) website at www.uar.co.uk.  Alternatively they can be contacted on 0844 481 8180.  The UAR are an organisation which aims to put us back in contact with our missing money.  The service is provided by Credit Rating Agency Experian for which there is a fee of £25.  They will then search their database to see if they can find any Unclaimed Assets which may be yours.  The service can also be used to search for assets in another person’s name such as a deceased relative.  This search not only covers Pensions, it also extends to Shares & Dividends, Life Assurance Policies and National Savings Products.  If they find a potential match they will then let you know and give you the contact details of the relevant organisation along with a reference number.  It is then up to you to contact the organisation and verify you do in fact have an unclaimed entitlement.  The £25 is a fairly nominal cost and maybe it is worthwhile doing a check anyway especially as it covers such a wide range of products.  They do provide some frightening figures on their website.  There is, for instance, £31,000,000 in unclaimed Premium Bond Prizes with the largest at £25,000 and a further £1 Billion unclaimed other NS&I products.  £400,000,000 unpaid money in Life Assurance & Pension Schemes and the same figure again in Bank & Building Society Accounts.  Another organisation to approach is the Governments Pension Tracing Service which you can access by going to www.thepensionservice.gov.uk or alternatively by telephoning 0845 6002 537.  This is a free service and you only need to complete a shortish form and they will then endeavour to provide you with the current contact details of the Pension Scheme.  They have information on over 200,000 schemes and hopefully will be able to find out if you were once a member of one or more of them.  It is then up to you to contact them.  The form does ask however about the previous employer and as such requires more information when compared to the UAR.  The UAR website also gives useful links to other sites that may be able to assist.

Any reader interested in discussing this topic further can telephone Peter Sharratt on 01344 875000 or email peter.sharratt@kirkrice.co.uk

Answers are given for general guidance only and specific advice should be taken before acting on any of the suggestions made.