Updated
Updated · AOL UK · Sep 19
deVere Warns 74% of Expats Ignore UK Pensions, Risking Lost Retirement Pots
Updated
Updated · AOL UK · Sep 19

deVere Warns 74% of Expats Ignore UK Pensions, Risking Lost Retirement Pots

2 articles · Updated · AOL UK · Sep 19

Summary

  • 74% of UK pension holders living abroad have never reviewed their pensions, deVere Group said, warning they could be missing retirement savings spread across forgotten pots.
  • Only 7% said they knew where all their UK pensions were, while 68% had worked for three or more UK employers before leaving the country—raising the odds of multiple schemes with different providers.
  • 58% had also moved home without updating every pension provider, meaning statements and key paperwork may still be going to old addresses.
  • Nearly half expect to start drawing these pensions within 10 years, and deVere said the problem extends beyond expats to the wider UK pension system.
  • The UK government's Pension Tracing Service can help savers find scheme contact details, while old statements, former employers and providers may help locate missing pots.

Insights

Why are millions of expats unknowingly leaving tens of billions in retirement savings to vanish into administrative black holes?
Could your forgotten UK jobs be hiding a massive retirement fortune that the government tracing service will not help you value?
With recent 2026 tax rule changes, is consolidating your overseas UK pension actually a costly financial trap in disguise?