A natural assumption: if you can search a database for someone's bank account, surely you can search a database for their pensions. Just plug in the name, and out come all the pension pots in their record.
The honest answer: no, you can't — at least not in the UK, and not from any single tool. There's no central name-indexed database of UK pensions. The closest equivalents are partial: the DWP holds State Pension records by NI number, HMRC holds contracted-out SERPS records by NI number, and the Government's free pension tracing tool searches by employer name rather than the member's name.
This guide explains exactly what's possible, what isn't, and what actually works when you want to find every pension in your name.
The UK pension system was built piece by piece over more than a century, by dozens of providers and thousands of employers. Each part holds its own records. There was never a moment where someone said "let's give every UK pension scheme a national identifier and create a name-indexed master database" — and so one doesn't exist.
The consequences:
HMRC holds tax records and contracted-out SERPS contributions, indexed by NI number
The DWP holds State Pension records, indexed by NI number
Each pension provider (Aviva, Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Aegon, Royal London, Nest, etc.) holds its own ledger, indexed by member number
Each scheme trustee holds occupational scheme records, often indexed by member number plus employer
Your name appears on all of these — but there's no single index that joins them together by name.
The Government has been working on a Pensions Dashboard programme that aims to provide a single view of all your UK pensions, indexed by your personal details (including NI number). At time of writing it isn't yet available to the general public.
Here's the realistic toolkit.
The Gov.UK Find Pension Contact Details tool at gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details is a directory of more than 200,000 UK pension schemes. You search by employer name or scheme name and get the current contact details for the scheme administrator.
This is the closest thing the UK has to a public pension search tool — but the input is the employer, not the member. It tells you "this employer's pension scheme is administered by X — contact them at Y". It does not tell you whether you specifically have a pension with that scheme.
The Gov.UK Check State Pension service at gov.uk/check-state-pension shows your State Pension forecast — by NI number plus identity verification. Useful, but limited to State Pension only.
If you were ever contracted out of the Additional State Pension (1978–2016), HMRC holds records of the rebates that went into your contracted-out scheme. These records are indexed by NI number and can be requested in writing — or by an authorised pension finder service on your behalf.
Once you know which provider holds a pension, you can log in to your account on their portal with your member number. But you have to know the provider first.
To be clear, none of these exist in the UK:
A name-indexed search across all UK pension providers
An NI-indexed search across all private and workplace pensions
A "list every pension in your name" Government tool
A consumer-facing API for "give me everything for John Smith, born 1975"
Anyone implying otherwise online is overstating what's possible.
The realistic process combines several inputs:
Use your NI number to recover State Pension and contracted-out SERPS records (DWP and HMRC)
Use your work history (employer names + rough dates) to identify likely workplace schemes
Use the Gov.UK tool to look up the current contact details for each scheme
Contact each provider with your details to confirm whether they have a pension in your name
Cross-reference the results into a single picture
This is exactly what a regulated pension finder service does on your behalf. You give us your NI number and a rough work history; we contact HMRC, the DWP, providers, scheme trustees and former employers in parallel. We do the chasing — you get a single document with every pot in your name and what each is worth.
Sometimes people ask this in the context of tracing a deceased relative's pensions, or wanting to know if a former partner has a pension they're entitled to a share of (e.g. through a pensions sharing order in divorce). The answer differs by use case:
Deceased relative: yes, but you need to evidence your authority to act for the estate (executor, administrator, etc.) — see our bereavement guide
Divorce/financial settlement: this is handled through the legal process. Pensions are routinely included in financial disclosure during divorce proceedings; courts can order pensions to be valued and shared. Direct member-by-name searches outside that process aren't supported.
Random other person: no. UK data protection law prevents you from looking up someone else's pension records without legal authority. Pension providers are bound by the same data protection rules as banks.
Three steps:
You sign up online with your name, date of birth, NI number and rough work history
We contact HMRC, the DWP, pension providers, scheme trustees and previous employers in parallel — using your NI number to unlock the records that are indexed that way, and your work history for everything else
We bring back a single document with every pension in your name, its current value, charges, and our advisers' recommendation
It's free to find your pensions and free to have them reviewed. A one-off 1% fee applies only if you choose to consolidate them into a new plan, with 0.82–0.86% annual management thereafter.
Not directly — there's no central name-indexed database of UK pensions. The Government's free tool searches by employer name (not member name); HMRC and the DWP search by NI number. To find every pension in your name you need to combine these inputs, which is what a pension finder service does.
The Government's Find Pension Contact Details tool at gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details is free, but you search by employer name rather than your own name. The Pension Tracing Service® offers a free name + NI number search across HMRC, the DWP, providers and trustees — also free.
Partially. Your NI number unlocks State Pension records at the DWP and contracted-out SERPS records at HMRC. It doesn't unlock private or workplace pensions directly — there's no NI-indexed master database for those.
Not from a single source. The UK system requires combining HMRC + DWP + provider records to get a complete picture. A pension finder service does this combination for you.
Only with appropriate legal authority — for example, as the executor of a deceased relative's estate, or as part of a court-ordered financial disclosure during divorce. UK data protection law prevents random third-party lookups.
The UK Government has been developing the Pensions Dashboard — a planned online service that would let people see all their UK pensions in one place, indexed by personal details. When (if) it launches publicly, it will be the closest thing to a "search by name" tool — but at the time of writing it isn't available to the general public.
No — we're a service that searches on your behalf across multiple sources. You give us your details; we contact HMRC, the DWP, providers and former employers and return a consolidated report. We don't host a public database that anyone can search.
You can't search for UK pensions by name from a single tool. What you can do is combine NI-based records (DWP, HMRC) with employer-based searches (Gov.UK directory + provider contacts) to find every pension in your name.
If you'd rather not run that process yourself, we'll do it for you.
Related: Pension Finder UK guide · Find My Pensions With NI Number · About The Pension Tracing Service®
You can also request contact details from the Pension Tracing Service by phone or by post.
The Pension Tracing Service
Telephone: 0800 1223 170
From outside the UK: +44 (0) 1782 389134
Monday to Friday, 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
Address
The Pension Tracing Service
The Lantern
High Street
Ilfracombe
EX34 9QB
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The Pension Tracing Service® is a trading style of Millennial Wealth Ltd. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA number 914746). Pinnacle House, 34 Newark Road, Peterborough, PE1 5YD. Registered company number 11557299.
Profile Pensions is a trading name of Profile Financial Solutions Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA number 596398). Registered office: Norwest Court, Guildhall Street, Preston, PR1 3NU.
This service is not affiliated with the Department for Work and Pensions or any government body. When you click to get started, you'll be taken to Profile Pensions to complete your sign-up and begin the Find, Check & Transfer service. Capital at risk: the value of investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you put in. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change.
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