Moving house? Marrying? New job? Your priority? Telling your pension company. Not

Join National Pension Tracing Day this Sunday 30 October

On the face of it, it’s hardly surprising that some £19bn has been estimated to be tucked away in pensions either overlooked or mislaid.

The original research which sparked last year’s idea for National Pension Tracing Day suggested that because people move house, on average eight times and jobs, typically 11 times, it appears the last thing on their mind was telling who looked after their pension about these changes.

Add to that getting married and a new name and you begin to understand why: “telling my pension company I’ve moved house, changed jobs and my surname” isn’t even in the top ten list of the many things you have to do.

We’ve won two awards and counting for this campaign and, I think, part of it is down to offering practical tips and thinking about how we can make a difference to a longstanding problem.

An important element is giving it an optimistic spin. Not “fill-in-this-form-you-may-have-made-a-mistake” but more “you-may-be-able-to-find-buried-treasure” to make it a positive, rather than reluctant, “better-do-this” choice.

Using the extra hour when the clocks go back on the last Sunday in October to start your search was a way to latch onto one of the rare moments when we have more time than we think.

And, importantly, we also recognised the role employers can play, based on our experience as consultants helping companies provide employee benefits to their people.

We know that in an era when everything is more individualised, staff, more than ever, look to their employer for access to guidance on significant decisions such as pensions and retiring.

It’s why we designed and made available for free our employer toolkit to help spread the word. From handy hints and tips for the intranet to posters to hang in communal areas, it’s another way employers can help the cause.

One of our clients told us about their experience. She said: “I was astonished at the amount of pension money which people hadn’t claimed. In this day and age, any extra money has to be a good thing.

“Last year, we posted the communications toolkit on the intranet and we put up posters in our offices. As a business, if you could take these simple steps, why wouldn’t you? Not only might it help your people, but they are likely to mention it to friends and family and so on.

“Like me, some colleagues were surprised at what seemed forgotten and thought about where they had worked before. Had they ticked off everything when they moved? All in all, it was a positive reaction.

“As a business, all the materials were already drawn up and ready to go so it was a minimal effort to help point people in a direction which could be really beneficial for them. I’d urge every organisation to get behind it.”

Hear, hear. Just click on this link for your NPTD employer toolkit. We’d love to hear any stories or successes it might lead to so please do let us know, using the form on our website.

We know pensions aren’t always among life’s day-to-day priorities, but this is one way everyone can push it up the to-do list. Or even, I’m-glad-I-did-that list.