A rush to top up state pension and trace pensions led to a significant jump in the number of people searching online for the Department of Work and Pensions, analysis by Standard Life has revealed.
Internet searches for the DWP surged 123% in February compared to the same time last year, while those for the Future Pension Centre jumped nearly 3000%.
Standard Life’s Search Radar found there were 301,000 searches for the DWP in February, which it says were likely driven by growing awareness of an upcoming deadline for people to fill gaps in their National Insurance record through voluntary contributions. In February 2022, there were just 135,000 searches.
The jump in searches for the Future Pension Centre, the government service which oversees pension forecasts, jumped from around 1,600 last February to 49,500 this year – an increase of nearly 3,000%. The surge in interest ultimately led to the DWP extending the deadline to top up the state pension from April 5th to July 31st.
Under normal circumstances, someone can only fill gaps in their NI record from the last six years, however those who reached or will reach State Pension age after 6 April 2016 currently have the chance to plug gaps in their NI record going back to 2006. The rule means people can pay around £800 to cover a full year of contributions which would lead to an additional £275 a year from their state pension. For those who live for 20 years in retirement, the payment would create £5,500 of additional pension income.
Meanwhile, searches for ‘pension tracing service’ jumped 82% in the same period, reaching 40,500 in February. It follows awareness campaigns which have highlighted that £50 billion worth of assets lay unclaimed in the UK, with as much as £37 billion, thought to be locked away in old pensions.
Dean Butler, managing director for Customer at Standard Life, commented: “A growing realisation that a special window to top-up state pension payments was closing drove a huge volume of searches in February. The volumes were such that the government extended its initial deadline from April to July in order to let people take advantage of a potentially very significant boost to their retirement incomes.
“There are billions of unclaimed, dormant or lost pension plans in the UK and with the pensions dashboard still some way from landing, it looks as though significant numbers of people are taking matters into their own hands and tracking down lost pots.”
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