I got a cheque for £2,600 after listening to Martin Lewis warning – it only took weeks to get the cash
A WOMAN has revealed how her husband received £2,600 after taking up advice from consumer champion Martin Lewis.
The cash came via lost workplace pension funds which had not been claimed.
There is around £50billion worth of lost assets in the UK, including lost bank accounts, Premium Bonds and pensions.
But you can claim forgotten cash for free, and in some cases it could be worth thousands of pounds.
In one of MoneySavingExpert.com’s recent newsletters, a woman, known only as Julia, explained how she helped her husband claim a lost pension from 40 years ago.
It came after Martin Lewis urged people to check for lost pension pots on his ITV Money Show Live programme earlier this year.
Julia emailed the website in August and said: “Martin, after watching your TV episode on forgotten pensions, we contacted the number on your site for the companies my husband worked for 40 years ago.
“Gave them all the information and within four weeks received a cheque for £2,669 for pension contributions he never realised he’d paid. Thank you.”
It comes after a cricket fan revealed on Mr Lewis’ ITV show in February how he had tracked down his old savings which were worth almost 20 times their original value.
Ali, from Leeds, said he put £900 into his original pension 30 years before but called the pension tracing service who told him it had increased in size to a whopping £18,000.
Millions of people are now put into workplace pensions automatically through what’s known as auto-enrolment.
But even before the initiative, many people, like Ali, would have paid into pensions and forgotten about them.
And small amounts can add up to thousands if left for years.
That’s because pensions are invested and grow over time through what’s known as compound interest.
How can I track down a lost pension?
You should start by drawing up a list of any old pension pots so you know who to approach.
Then, once you know who your providers were, you should gather any relevant paperwork or documents they’ll need from you.
Usually, the information you’ll need will be found on an annual statement, which providers send by post every 12 months.
That’s why it’s important to keep your address up to date.
If you can’t find all your paperwork you can contact any old employers and find out who your pension was with when you worked there.
If you can’t get in touch with your old workplace you can use the government’s free Pension Tracing Service.
The useful tool lets you search a database of hundreds of thousands of pension scheme contact details to find your old provider.
You just have to enter the name of your employer or old pension provider.
The tool will tell you who managed your old company’s scheme who you should then contact.