Moving house causing savers to lose £19.4bn in pensions

Research from the trade body, published on Tuesday, found people rarely contact their pension provider when they move house, which is causing many to lose significant amounts of money in pension pots that have been forgotten about.

Providers are attempting to reunite people with their lost pensions, life insurance and investments by sending a letter to their addresses. But with only one in 25 people telling their pension provider when they move home, this is often very difficult, the ABI stated.

Out of 2,000 savers surveyed, the majority (89 per cent) automatically think about telling their GP or dentist about their change of address, while 67 per cent would tell their utility provider, and 66 per cent would notify their bank. 

But only 4 per cent would think to tell their pension provider, only 1 percentage point higher than the 3 per cent who said they would notify Amazon.

The government predicts that there could be as many as 50m dormant and lost pensions by 2050. In 2017, more than 375,000 attempts were made to contact customers, leading to £1bn in assets being reunited with them.

Yvonne Braun, director of policy, long-term savings and protection at the ABI, said: “During the lockdown many of us have been focusing on those jobs that never get done, so now is the perfect opportunity to check that all your financial information is up to date with the correct address. 

“It is simple to do. All you need is to check the address on your last annual statement, or log in to your provider’s website.” 

Dr Braun continued: “Long-term savings providers will continue to work hard to reunite people with their lost money. People deserve all the cash they are entitled to. 

“To ensure more people than ever are reconnected, we will continue to work with the government to explore ways data can be used to verify customer addresses.”