A woman has revealed how she and her husband received nearly £3,000 in forgotten savings thanks to advice from consumer expert Martin Lewis.
In a recent Money Saving Expert (MSE) newsletter, the MSE team shared the story of Julia who was able to get a cheque for nearly £3,000 after following the advice she heard from the Martin Lewis TV show. In August, Julia emailed the MSE team: "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."
Martin's tip was to use the Government's free Pension Tracing Service to try and track down any pension savings someone may have, reports The Mirror. This is because many people are enrolled automatically into a workplace pension scheme, but often forget about them when they change jobs and don’t notify their pension provider.
If you have moved jobs several times then it could mean you have multiple pension saving pots which are just sitting there. Martin has previously said it was worth taking the time to check as some people could potentially have pension savings worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds.
To use the tool, you simply need to put in your old employer's details and it will tell you who to contact to find out if you have a pension. However, Martin has noted that it's not just pensions that are left lying unclaimed, but other things too such as bank and building society accounts, to Premium Bonds and investments.
The newsletter highlights that there is thought to be around £50b of lost assets in the UK. The Money Saving Expert and his team have frequently highlighted this and the newsletter then linked to the MSE’s Lost Assets guide. The guide explains the exact steps you will need to take in order to recover money, you or a recessed relative forgot about.
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