Pension Tips

Pensions Search UK: How to Search For Your UK Pensions (2026)

A common search: "pensions search UK". People typically expect a single online database where you enter your details and get back every pension in your name. There isn't one — at least, not yet. The UK Government's planned Pensions Dashboard programme aims to provide exactly this, but it isn't live to the public yet.

Until it launches, the realistic answer is to combine several free Government tools with employer-by-employer lookups — or to use a regulated tracing service that does the search for you. This guide walks through both routes.

What you can — and can't — search for in the UK

Before getting into the how, it's worth being clear about the data landscape. UK pension records are held across multiple organisations, indexed by different identifiers:

State Pension records — held by the DWP, indexed by NI number
Contracted-out SERPS contributions (1978–2016) — held by HMRC, indexed by NI number
Workplace pensions — held by individual scheme administrators (Aviva, Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Aegon, Royal London, Nest, The People's Pension, etc.), indexed by member number
Personal pensions and SIPPs — held by the provider you set them up with, indexed by member number
Defined-benefit / final salary pensions — held by scheme trustees

There's no consumer-facing master database that lets you search "give me every pension in my name". The closest things are:

The Government's Find Pension Contact Details tool — a directory of UK pension schemes, searched by employer name (not by your name)
The Government's Check State Pension service — your State Pension forecast, accessed via NI number + identity verification
The Pensions Dashboard programme — planned future service that will provide a single view of all your UK pensions, indexed by personal details

To find every pension in your name today, you (or someone searching on your behalf) need to combine these inputs.

Step-by-step: how to search for your pensions

Step 1: Search Gov.UK for your State Pension

Go to gov.uk/check-state-pension. Sign in with GOV.UK One Login (or create an account — first-time identity verification takes 10–15 minutes). The forecast shows your total State Pension entitlement, your State Pension age, and any National Insurance gaps.

Free, takes about 5 minutes once you've got the account set up.

Step 2: Search Gov.UK for each former employer's scheme

Go to gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details. For each employer in your work history, search by company name. The tool returns the current contact details for the scheme administrator. It does not confirm whether you have a pension with that scheme — you have to contact the administrator to verify.

The directory holds records for over 200,000 UK pension schemes, including some that have been wound up or transferred multiple times.

Step 3: Search through your own paperwork

This is unglamorous but useful. Look through:

Old annual benefit statements filed with tax paperwork
Old payslips showing pension deductions
Joiner packs from previous jobs
Email — search your inbox for "pension", "Aviva", "Standard Life", "Scottish Widows", "Aegon", "Royal London", "Nest"
Bank statements — direct debits or contributions to pension providers

Even one piece of paper can name a provider and unlock a search.

Step 4: Search HMRC for contracted-out SERPS records

If you were contracted out of SERPS at any point between 1978 and 2016, HMRC holds records of which scheme(s) received your redirected NI rebates. To request these, write to:

HM Revenue and Customs, National Insurance Contributions and Employer Office, BX9 1AN

Include your full name, date of birth, NI number, a clear request for "details of any contracting-out periods and the schemes that received my contributions", and your signature. Postal turnaround is typically 4–8 weeks.

Step 5: Contact each scheme administrator

For every provider name you've identified, contact their member services team with your details. They'll verify your identity and confirm whether you have a pot, plus a current valuation.

For schemes that have been wound up, acquired or rebranded (Phoenix, Aviva, Aegon, Standard Life and Royal London have absorbed many old schemes), the Find Pension Contact Details tool typically points to the current administrator.

Can you search for pensions by NI number?

A common assumption: "surely I can search for pensions by NI number". Partially. Your NI number unlocks State Pension and contracted-out SERPS records — both genuinely searchable that way. For private and workplace pensions, there is no NI-indexed database in the UK. Those records are held by individual providers and looked up by member number or by personal details (name, DOB, address) once you've identified the scheme.

So a "search by NI number" returns your State Pension and contracted-out records — useful, but not the complete picture.

For more on the NI number specifically see Find My Pensions With My NI Number.

Searching for pensions in your name

You can search for pensions held in your own name with appropriate identity verification. You cannot search for pensions held in someone else's name (e.g. a former partner) without legal authority — UK data protection law prevents random third-party lookups.

Exceptions where you can search on someone else's behalf:

As executor or administrator of a deceased relative's estate — see our bereavement guide
As part of a court-ordered financial disclosure during divorce proceedings
With written authorisation from the person whose records you want to search

For more on the search-by-name question see our dedicated guide: Pension Search by Name.

How a pension search service works

If running the search yourself sounds like a lot of paperwork — it is. A regulated UK pension tracing service does the search end-to-end on your behalf:

Contacts HMRC for your contracted-out SERPS records
Contacts the DWP for your State Pension record
Contacts every provider, scheme trustee and former employer in your work history
Returns a single document with every pension in your name and its current value

You only need to provide name, date of birth, NI number, and a rough work history. The Pension Tracing Service® has been doing this since 2012 (FCA number 914746). Search is free; a one-off 1% fee only applies if you choose to consolidate found pots into a new plan.

Search for my pensions →

Pensions search FAQs

Is there a UK pensions search database?

Not a single one. UK pension records are spread across the DWP (State Pension), HMRC (contracted-out SERPS), and individual providers (workplace and personal pensions). The Government's planned Pensions Dashboard aims to provide a single view in future but isn't live to the public yet. The Government's free Find Pension Contact Details tool at gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details is the closest thing to a UK pension scheme directory — but it's searched by employer name, not by your details.

Can I search for my pensions by name?

You can search for pensions held in your own name through Government tools (gov.uk/check-state-pension) and individual provider lookups, with appropriate identity verification. You cannot search for someone else's pensions without legal authority. See Pension Search by Name.

Can I search for pensions by NI number?

Partially. Your NI number unlocks State Pension records (DWP) and contracted-out SERPS records (HMRC) — those are NI-indexed. Private and workplace pensions are held by providers and looked up by member number, not NI number. A search service uses your NI number alongside your work history to find the rest.

Is the Government pensions search free?

Yes. Both gov.uk/check-state-pension (State Pension forecast) and gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details (scheme contact directory) are free.

How can I search for old pensions?

Combine: (1) your State Pension forecast at gov.uk, (2) the employer-by-employer search at gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details, (3) HMRC's contracted-out SERPS records by post, and (4) direct contact with each scheme administrator. Or use a tracing service that does all four in parallel.

Search lost pensions — does PTS find lost pots?

Yes. The Pension Tracing Service® specifically finds lost UK pensions for the living member. We contact HMRC, the DWP, providers and former employers on your behalf. Tracing is free; the only fee is the optional consolidation step. If we don't find anything we don't charge.

What's the difference between the Pension Tracing Service® and the Government search?

The Government's Find Pension Contact Details tool returns scheme contact details by employer name — you do the actual chasing yourself. The Pension Tracing Service® does the contact, the verification, the valuations and (if you want) the consolidation advice on your behalf. We compare the two in detail at Gov.UK Pension Tracing vs The Pension Tracing Service®.

Can I search for pensions for free?

Yes. The Government's tools are free. The Pension Tracing Service® is also free for the search and review — only the optional consolidation step has a fee, and only if you choose to take it.

What is the Pensions Dashboard?

A planned UK Government service that will eventually provide a single online view of all your UK pensions, indexed by your personal details. Implementation has been ongoing for several years; at the time of writing, it isn't yet live to the public. Until it launches, multi-source searches and tracing services remain the practical route.

In short

A "pensions search" in the UK isn't a single online lookup — it's a combination of Government tools, HMRC records, and provider contacts. You can do it yourself for free, or use a regulated tracing service to handle the search end-to-end.