Lost Pensions and Student Loans

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

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Summary

New research estimates that there are more than 3 million lost pension pots in the UK. These are pensions that have been paid into by an employer but the scheme can no longer find the person who owns it. The Pensions Policy Institute research also found number of lost pots has risen more than 17% since 2022. The Department for Work and Pensions told us millions of people will be saved from losing track of their pension pots thanks to its plans to consolidate deferred small pots in its forthcoming Pension Schemes Bill. The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association says the industry has funded campaigns to raise awareness. Go to gov.uk and search 'pension tracing' to find contact details for your old pensions.

Hundreds of thousands of former university students are being urged to check if they have paid too much towards their student loan and if so to claim a refund. The campaign group Save the Student made the call in response to new figures from the Student Loans Company, published for the first time, which show former students are eligible for refunds worth £184m.

And in last week's Budget the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced a reduction in the level of debt repayments that can be taken from a household’s Universal Credit payment each month. The new "Fair Repayment Rate" will reduce Universal Credit deductions from 25% to 15% per month. The government says that means that 1.2 million households will keep more of their award each month and those who benefit will gain an average of £420 a year.

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth Researchers: Emma Smith and Jo Krasner Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday November 9th 2024)

Transcript

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0:41.2	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:43.8	Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast.
0:48.9	Hundreds of thousands of former university students are being urged to check if they're due a refund on some of their student loan repayments.
0:52.1	And people on universal credit who owe the Department for
0:54.6	Work and Pensioners money should be better off each month after the Chancellor says they can pay it
0:59.4	back more slowly. But first, new research estimates that there are more than 3 million lost
1:05.9	pension pots in the UK worth £30 billion. These are pensions that have been paid into, often at work,
1:13.6	but the scheme can no longer find the person who owns them. The number of lost pots has risen
1:18.6	more than 17% in the last two years, and the research by the Pensions Policy Institute also found
1:25.1	that while the average size of a lost pot is almost nine and a half
1:28.3	thousand pounds, the highest amount mislaid is among the 55 to 74 year old age group at more than
1:34.7	13,600 pounds. Many people now have several pension pots as they change jobs and if they
1:41.9	change their name or address it can be hard for the pension
1:44.7	firm to trace them. Our reporter Joe Krasner asked people in Liverpool how many pension
1:49.5	pots they had and if they knew where they were. I'll be honest with it, I haven't got a Scooby-Doo
	...

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