Millions of people could find it easier to track old workplace and private pensions under a major change to the UK’s pensions dashboard programme.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says substantial progress has been made in connecting pension records to the system, with around 85% of pension records reportedly linked. The programme is designed to allow people to view information about their pensions in one place rather than searching through paperwork and contacting former providers individually.
The development could be particularly useful for people who have changed jobs several times and lost track of older pension accounts. The average value of a pension pot that could potentially be located has been cited at around £9,500, although that figure does not mean every person will discover a pension worth that amount.
The public service is expected to become available through the MoneyHelper service during the 2027/28 financial year, subject to the programme’s remaining development, connection and testing work.
Dashboard
The pensions dashboard programme is intended to give people a consolidated view of their pension information.
In practical terms, a person could use a dashboard to see information from multiple pension providers in one place. This could make it easier to identify accounts accumulated during previous employment.
The MoneyHelper pensions dashboard guidance explains the purpose of pensions dashboards and how they are expected to help people find information about their retirement savings.
The DWP has said that around 85% of pension records are now connected to the dashboards system, representing about 70 million private pension records.
However, connected records do not mean the public dashboard is already available for everyone. Pension providers have been required to connect their systems in stages, followed by testing and other preparations before public access.
£9,500
The £9,500 figure refers to an estimated average value of pension pots that could potentially be located.
It is important not to interpret this as a guaranteed £9,500 payment or government contribution.
Someone who has an old pension account could discover that it contains more or less than that amount. Others may find several smaller pots, while some people may not have any missing pension savings at all.
The value of a pension depends on factors including contributions, investment performance, fees and the amount of time the money has been invested.
Finding an old pension therefore does not create new retirement savings. Instead, the dashboard is intended to make existing savings easier to identify.
Records
The scale of the pension system helps explain why the project is taking time.
The DWP has said that approximately 70 million private pension records are included in the dashboard connection programme. Many of these records relate to people who have accumulated pension savings through different employers during their working lives.
When someone changes jobs, their pension does not necessarily move automatically into their new workplace pension. Over a career, this can result in several separate accounts.
People may also have changed address, surname or employment provider, making older pension records harder to trace.
The dashboard is intended to reduce some of this administrative difficulty by allowing individuals to search for pension information digitally.
The Department for Work and Pensions provides official information about the department and its work on pensions policy and retirement savings.
Launch
The public launch is expected during the 2027/28 financial year.
That timing is important because the dashboard is still being developed and tested. A public launch requires pension providers and schemes to connect properly and provide accurate information.
Money and Pensions Service chief executive Oliver Morley has said that testing is also focused on how people understand and respond to the information shown on the dashboard.
The aim is not simply to create a website displaying pension balances. The wider objective is to help people understand their retirement position and make informed decisions about their pension savings.
The Money and Pensions Service is responsible for providing guidance and support around financial wellbeing and pensions, including its role in the dashboards programme.
Benefits
A central benefit of the dashboard could be convenience.
Someone who has worked for several employers may currently need to contact multiple pension providers to establish where their retirement savings are held. A consolidated digital view could make that process considerably simpler.
The information could also help people understand how many pension accounts they have and how those accounts fit into their wider retirement plans.
There may be cases where someone discovers an old pension that they had forgotten about. Other people may find that they already know about all their pensions but can use the dashboard to bring the information together.
The system could also provide information that helps people decide whether they need further guidance or professional financial advice.
Decisions
Finding pension accounts is only the first step.
A person who discovers several pension pots may then need to decide whether to leave them where they are, consolidate them or take another approach. Those decisions can involve charges, investment options, benefits and protections that vary between pension schemes.
Moving a pension is therefore not automatically beneficial. A lower number of accounts does not necessarily mean lower costs or better investment outcomes.
People should check the terms and features of their existing pension arrangements before transferring money. Some older pensions may also contain valuable guarantees or other benefits that could be lost after a transfer.
The dashboard is primarily an information tool. It is not intended to make those decisions for the individual.
Retirement
The pensions dashboard could eventually change how people manage their retirement savings by making pension information easier to access.
The DWP’s progress update suggests that a large proportion of pension records have already been connected, while further work remains before the public can use the service at scale.
For savers, the most significant potential benefit is visibility. A forgotten pension pot does not disappear simply because someone has lost the paperwork, and a digital search could make it easier to reconnect with those savings.
The £9,500 figure is therefore best understood as an indication of the potential value of pension pots that people may discover, rather than a promised boost to retirement income. The dashboard will not add money to an account, but it could make existing pension savings easier to locate and manage.
As the planned 2027/28 launch approaches, the key issues will be whether all relevant pension providers connect successfully, whether the information is accurate and whether people can use the system to understand their retirement position clearly.
