Almost one in four UK adults (23 per cent) has lost track of a pension scheme, according to a poll by charity Age UK.

According to the charity, frequent job changes are a major cause for the findings, with 23 per cent of younger workers (aged 25 to 34) responding to an online poll already having worked for five or six employers – matching the average for the total number of employers for those aged over 65. Younger workers were most likely to have lost a pension with 37 per cent of those aged 18-44 having done so.

Age UK head of services Lucy Harmer said: “With the number of jobs we have over a lifetime increasing, it’s likely that people will accumulate several small pension pots. In many cases these bring a less fruitful income in later life than one large pension pot.

“While some measures are being taken by the government to account for smaller pension pots likely to be created under automatic enrolment, existing pots that we may already have are not being accounted for. This makes it more important than ever that we keep on top of what we have already accumulated.”

The charity’s written evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee on auto-enrolment last November called for the ban on NEST accepting transfers into the scheme to be lifted as soon as possible, arguing that it was damaging to employees.

Of those that have lost pensions, one in five blame losing paperwork, while 10 per cent blamed moving jobs too frequently to keep track of their pensions. Forty-seven per cent, however, were not sure how they had lost track of their savings.

The survey also found that among all respondents only 30 per cent said they would try to trace a pension if they realised they had lost track of it.

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