Money Box reports £18.7bn in 3mn lost pension pots

The figures come from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), an independent pensions and retirement policy research body, which published its Lost Pensions 2026 report on 12 October 2026¹. The BBC Radio 4 programme Money Box reported the findings on 24 October 2026, saying an estimated £18.7bn is sitting in 3mn lost pots, worth an average of just over £6,000 each². Around 75% of pension providers responded to the survey behind the figures².

The PPI's own summary of the report states: "Lost Pensions 2026: Over 3 million UK pension pots remain lost, worth £6k on average"¹. The report was posted by Sam Eccles on 12 October 2026¹.

The PPI report page carries the headline figure and a link to a press release dated 12 October 2026, but the detailed methodology and any breakdown by pot size, scheme type or age group have not been reported in the material available¹. The BBC's coverage gives the aggregate value, the number of pots and the average, and notes the provider response rate².

Why it matters for households

A lost pot is money saved in a workplace or personal pension that the saver has lost track of, typically after changing jobs or moving home. On the reported average of just over £6,000, each pot is a meaningful sum, and the total of £18.7bn is spread across an estimated 3mn pots². The people affected are those who have contributed to a pension scheme and no longer have contact with it; the figures do not identify how many individuals that is, since one person may hold more than one lost pot, and that has not been reported¹.

The practical consequence is that the money stays invested but unclaimed until the saver traces the scheme. The Pensions Policy Institute's report is a measure of scale rather than a tracing service, and the material does not set out any new mechanism for reuniting savers with pots¹. Guidance on finding lost pensions and the Pension Tracing Service and on old pensions with closed and legacy providers covers how schemes are traced. Pensions dashboards, intended to let people see their pensions in one place, are a separate development; the sources here do not report on their timing or scope.

For anyone who does trace a pot, the choices about taking money from it are set out in your options for taking money from a pension, and Pension Wise provides free guidance on those options. The wider context is covered in the guide to pensions.

What happens next

Money Box reported that the Chancellor, John Healey, will deliver his first Budget in Parliament the week after the 24 October broadcast². The programme did not report any Budget measure specifically on lost pots. No date has been reported for a government response to the PPI's findings, and no next steps on tracing or consolidation have been announced in the material available¹.