How to find a lost SERPS pension

To find a lost SERPS pension, check your State Pension forecast for the State part, then trace any contracted-out scheme through your old employers.

The State's share of SERPS needs no tracing, because it is paid alongside the State Pension. The part people lose track of is the money an employer's scheme or a personal pension built up instead, in years when you were contracted out. Whatever your search turns up, an FCA-authorised adviser can talk over the scheme names and statements you find on a free phone call; the form on this page sets one up.

Where has my SERPS pension gone?

SERPS, the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme, covered 1978 to 2002 for people in employment, and is one of the three schemes GOV.UK groups together as the Additional State Pension (GOV.UK, Additional State Pension: Eligibility, accessed 22 October 2026). It belongs to the old system, open to men born before 6 April 1951 and women born before 6 April 1953. For anyone whose State Pension age fell before 6 April 2016, GOV.UK says any Additional State Pension they are eligible for comes with the basic State Pension claim, with no separate claim needed, though periods spent contracted out may have earned none. How the State scheme was built is in the Additional State Pension guide, and the wider system in the UK State Pension guide.

The missing part went elsewhere. Until contracting out stopped on 5 April 2016, a contracted-out worker's National Insurance was, in GOV.UK's words, either "lower than people who were not contracted out" or partly "paid into another pension, for example a workplace or private pension" (GOV.UK, Contracted out of the Additional State Pension). Nor was it unusual: GOV.UK's checking page says that, at some point, most people employed before April 2016 were contracted out.

That money still counts. MoneyHelper's article on COPE (Contracted Out Pension Equivalent), last updated 14 March 2025, puts it plainly: "However, the important thing to know is that this isn’t money you’ve completely lost out on, the amount you are entitled to will have been building up elsewhere, and you can still claim it." (MoneyHelper, blog post on COPE and the State Pension) Once the State side is checked, then, the search is for whoever now holds any contracted-out money.

Were you contracted out? Payslips, providers and your National Insurance record

Settle this first, because it decides whether there is a scheme to look for. GOV.UK's test uses old payslips: any payslip dated before 6 April 2016 carrying one of the category letters D, E, L, N or O shows that you were contracted out (GOV.UK, Check if you were contracted out). Without payslips, GOV.UK's Additional State Pension guide suggests ringing your pension provider, and says contracting out was only possible where the employer ran a contracted-out scheme, so the employer can be asked too.

Your online National Insurance record is worth opening alongside. It lists what you paid up to the start of the current tax year (6 April 2026), any credits, and gaps that stop years counting as qualifying years for the State Pension. What it costs to fill a gap is in the Class 3 National Insurance guide. Keep a note of the employers and years you find: the tracing step below starts from an employer's or provider's name.

Find my SERPS pension online: what the State Pension forecast tells you

For the State side, the online check is GOV.UK's Check your State Pension forecast. Once you sign in, it shows how much State Pension you could get and the date it can start; the HMRC app offers the same forecast. Anyone due to reach State Pension age in more than 30 days may instead phone the Future Pension Centre, which sends the forecast by post. The online service is not for anyone already drawing their State Pension or deferring it: GOV.UK directs them to the Pension Service in the UK, or to the International Pension Centre from abroad.

If your State Pension age came before 6 April 2016, GOV.UK sets no fixed amount for the Additional State Pension, and the Pension Service writes once you claim to confirm what you are getting (GOV.UK, How to claim).

Reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 changes the picture: there is no separate SERPS payment to find. DWP's guide (updated 6 April 2026) explains that anyone with qualifying years by 5 April 2016 had a starting amount worked out for the new State Pension, with a deduction for any time contracted out before 6 April 2016, and that Additional State Pension can take the starting amount above the full rate (DWP, Your new State Pension explained). The calculation is set out in new State Pension versus old, the deduction in what contracting out meant for your State Pension, any excess over the full rate in the protected payment guide, and this year's figure in the State Pension rate.

A forecast lower than expected, beside private pensions you are still piecing together, is worth weighing with an FCA-authorised adviser: book the free ring-back on the form on this page.

How to trace a contracted-out SERPS pension

Contracting out ran through a scheme, so the trail starts with each employer you had before April 2016. MoneyHelper's COPE article adds one other place to look: until 2012, some types of personal pension could also be used, so include any plan you took out yourself.

Where you still have a letter or statement, contact the scheme or provider directly. MoneyHelper suggests asking it for a forecast of your contracted-out pension benefits, and notes that some providers might call the amount your Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP). Where the employer has closed or the provider has changed hands, GOV.UK says the Pension Tracing Service might be able to find a provider's contact details, starting from the employer's or provider's name; how to reach it and what it costs are on is the Pension Tracing Service free?, and the routine for old employers, takeovers and schemes that failed is in finding a lost pension.

The answer you get back depends on the kind of scheme. HMRC's guidance for administrators (published 19 December 2018) says salary-related schemes that were contracted out must provide a GMP covering contracted-out service from 6 April 1978 up to 5 April 1997 (HMRC, GMP calculation guidance); what a GMP is and how to find yours explain it. For years after April 1997 the treatment depends on the scheme, and an FCA-authorised adviser can walk through that part of a scheme statement with you, free, on a call you request through the form. A money purchase plan used for contracting out held what were called protected rights, which HMRC's Inheritance Tax Manual traces to schemes contracted out of SERPS or the State Second Pension; section 106 of the Pensions Act 2008 ended them from 6 April 2012 (HMRC, IHTM17056; Pensions Act 2008, section 106). What an old pot like that allows today is covered in cashing in a SERPS pension, and moving one elsewhere in how to transfer a pension.

Expect some offers of help you did not ask for, since old contracted-out money is easy to present as a windfall. The FCA's pension scams page (last updated 19/01/2026) calls cold calling about pensions illegal, says such a call is probably a scam, and advises hanging up. If you do want an adviser, it says to check the firm is authorised by the FCA and never to take advice from a company that contacted you.

Take each scheme's contact details from your own papers, the employer or GOV.UK. Our pension scams guide lists the warning signs, and transfer rules and red flags describes what schemes check before money moves.

Lost SERPS and contracted-out pensions: quick answers

Is there a SERPS pension finder on GOV.UK?

Three GOV.UK services do the work between them. The State Pension forecast and your National Insurance record read your own record for the State side, and Find pension contact details returns contact details for an employer's or provider's scheme once you give it the name, which makes it the closest thing to a contracted-out pension finder.

Can HMRC tell me whether I was contracted out?

MoneyHelper's COPE article (last updated 14 March 2025) says HMRC's National Insurance helpline can tell you when you were contracted out, and that you can also request your employment history from HMRC. The value of the pension is a question for the scheme that holds it.

Who pays my contracted-out pension?

The scheme or provider that held it, not the State. On retirement after a contracted-out workplace scheme, GOV.UK says: "You’ll get a pension from your employer’s workplace pension scheme." When it can be paid follows that scheme's rules; for pots, see cashing in a SERPS pension.

Did I lose SERPS by being contracted out?

GOV.UK says you may not get any Additional State Pension for contracted-out periods. The scheme pension takes its place, and GOV.UK describes it as "usually the same as, or more than, the Additional State Pension you would have got if you did not contract out".

Can I claim my late husband's, wife's or civil partner's SERPS?

GOV.UK says a widow, widower or surviving civil partner may be able to inherit part of it. Inheriting additional State Pension sets out the dates and shares, and tracing the pensions of someone who has died covers their private schemes.

Bringing the pieces together

By the end you may hold three different things: a State Pension forecast, a statement from a salary-related scheme and the value of an old pot. If one is a UK defined contribution pension and you are 50 or over, MoneyHelper says a free Pension Wise appointment can explain the ways to take it (what Pension Wise is). To see the State and private parts as one picture with an FCA-authorised adviser, who calls free, fill in the enquiry form here and keep your SERPS findings to hand for the call.

Sources, accessed 22 October 2026 unless dated: GOV.UK, Additional State Pension guide; GOV.UK, Contracted out of the Additional State Pension; the GOV.UK services Check your State Pension forecast, Check your National Insurance record and Find pension contact details; DWP, Your new State Pension explained (updated 6 April 2026); MoneyHelper's blog post on COPE and the State Pension (last updated 14 March 2025, archived copy); HMRC, IHTM17056 (manual updated 7 April 2026); legislation.gov.uk, Pensions Act 2008 section 106; HMRC's GMP calculation guidance for schemes (published 19 December 2018); FCA, Pension scams (last updated 19/01/2026).