John Ferguson used an app to track down the missing cash and thinks there may yet be more
He called the find ‘puzzling'(Image: The Mirror)
Some people find a few coins down the back of the sofa. Others stumble across a forgotten £10 note when they dip in the pocket of an old coat.
But John Ferguson found £10,000 when he looked down the back of the sofa – in a proverbial sense. The money was actually in pension pots he didn’t even know he had.
Keeping tabs on your pension pots can prove challenging, particularly if you’ve switched employers frequently. Research from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) in 2024 reveals that around £31.1 billion lies dormant in forgotten or unclaimed pension accounts across the UK.
However, recovering this lost retirement funding is entirely achievable, as demonstrated by Mr Ferguson, reports The Mirror.
The 32-year-old security professional used the Penny app to locate seven pension pots, two of which came as a complete surprise to him.
He suspects there may be an additional two or three pensions still waiting to be discovered. He explained: “Penny was really easy. You don’t have to give a lot of information for them to help you.”
Recalling one particular discovery, he said: “One of them… I completely forgot I worked for them when I was possibly 18. When I was on the Penny app, you put in past employers so I just clicked it and when I got a notification to say they’d found a pension, I was really surprised.” For money-saving tips, sign up to our Money newsletter here
He added: “If I never used the Penny app, I potentially never would have found that pension. The other one was a pension, to this moment, I still don’t know where it came from.”
The find was particularly puzzling, as he noted: “I didn’t even put this pension provider or employer in, but I got a notification saying we think you have a pension with this provider.”
Penny is an app that locates your pension pots using your National Insurance number and any information you have about your previous employment or pension provider. It then consolidates your pensions into one pot, which can be viewed within the app.
The app charges a 0.75% annual fee for its default pension plans. The primary advantage of merging your pensions is having all your retirement funds in one place, but there are factors to consider beforehand.
It’s crucial to check if your current pension provider imposes any fees for transferring your plans, or if you would forfeit benefits such as guaranteed annuity rates or protected tax-free cash. Always seek free pension advice before making any decisions.
The Pension Tracing Service is a free Government tool that can assist you in locating lost pensions. You’ll need to provide details of your past employment, similar to Penny.
However, the Pension Tracing Service only provides the contact details of a provider – it doesn’t disclose how much you’ve invested. To find out if you have any funds with them, you’ll need to contact the pension administrator directly.
A new pensions dashboard tool will also be launched this year, allowing people to view all their pension information in one place. By October 31, 2026, approximately 3,000 providers and schemes will be connected to the dashboard.
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