Frequently Asked Questions

PensionHunter is building the World's Trusted Pension Identification Platform, a global pension research service finding forgotten pensions across 41 countries. The mission is a world where no pension goes unclaimed. The Index and the country guides are always free. The reports are part of how we fund the work. We use Human experts + AI to research pension registries and trace employer histories. At the Enhanced and Global Pension Identification Report tiers, we also draft a complete request pack for each identified administrator, written and ready for you to send yourself. We never contact administrators for you. Fixed fee. Full refund if we find nothing material.

Yes. Paste your work history, or upload your LinkedIn profile PDF, into the free checker and you get an instant verdict: which of your countries may hold a pension, which can be ruled out and why, and the free official routes. No sign in, no charge, one free check per person. If it shows something worth pursuing, a Pension Identification Report is USD 99.

PensionHunter was founded by a former international executive who spent months tracking down his own forgotten pensions across multiple countries. Frustrated by the complexity of finding pension records across jurisdictions, he built PensionHunter so others would not have to go through the same process.

PensionHunter is building the World's Trusted Pension Identification Platform. We maintain a Pension Knowledge Base covering 52 countries and produce independent, evidence-based Pension Identification Reports in the 41 countries covered by our full Pension Identification Service. Fixed fee, three report tiers.

We currently search pension records across 41 countries: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, UAE, Vietnam, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Liechtenstein, Bulgaria, Iceland, Latvia, Romania, Austria, Portugal, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Israel, Slovenia and United States.

Absolutely. Cross-border pension tracing is exactly what we specialise in. It doesn't matter where you live now, we research the countries where you worked and trace pensions held there for you.

The quickest route is the free checker: paste your work history, or upload your LinkedIn profile PDF, and it reads the countries and dates for you. If you would rather type it in, you'll need your full name, date of birth, and details of where you worked. A National Insurance number (or equivalent) is helpful but not required. The more employment history you can provide, the more thorough our research will be.

To start, almost nothing. Your name, date of birth and a rough work history are enough, no documents and no forms. Evidence only matters later, when you approach the administrators we identify, and your request pack tells you exactly what each one will ask for before you send anything. Identity documents go directly to the administrator, never through us.

Start a search with us and provide the employer name, approximate dates and location. Our research team will trace the pension provider associated with that employer and check whether you have an entitlement held there.

The Information Request Authority is a document you sign. It records your permission for pension providers and registries to share information about your records with us. It gives us no control over your pension and no ability to move, claim or change anything.

Yes, and many clients do exactly that. You get one clear document showing where every pension from your working life is held, who administers it, and how your family can reach them. File it with your will and insurance papers and the job is done. If we identify nothing, the fee is refunded in full.

Because most pensions start without a signature. In many countries employers enrol staff automatically, so people build up pensions they never chose and never track. The register keepers publish the scale of this every year: the Pensions Policy Institute counted 31.1 billion pounds in 3.3 million UK pots that lost track of their owners in October 2024, Capitalize counted 2.1 trillion dollars left behind in 31.9 million US 401(k) accounts in September 2025, and the Australian Taxation Office reported 18.9 billion Australian dollars in lost super in 2025. Moving between countries makes it more likely, because letters stop arriving and logins expire. A Pension Identification Report checks the countries where you worked and puts what exists on paper.

No official body has ever published a figure for it, so we built the first estimate. The Uncounted, PensionHunter's annual research report, puts the floor at 74 billion US dollars across just three corridors (UK, US and Australia), roughly 1.35 million pots and accounts, derived from official figures: 31.1 billion pounds in lost UK pots (Pensions Policy Institute, October 2024), 2.1 trillion dollars left behind in US 401(k)s (Capitalize, September 2025) and 18.9 billion Australian dollars in lost super (ATO, 2025). The methodology is conservative by construction and published in full, free, at pensionhunter.ai/research/the-uncounted-2026.pdf.

Because after twenty years your old employer may have merged, been renamed or dissolved, and the pension rarely sits where they left it. We trace the corporate chain and the scheme records across borders and hand you the exact door to knock on. If we find nothing material, the $99 comes back. Either way you stop wondering.

No. PensionHunter charges fixed fees only, Country Pension Identification Report $99, Enhanced Pension Identification Report $499, Global Pension Identification Report $799. There are no success fees, no commission, and no percentage-based charges. The fixed fee is the only charge, paid upfront, and refunded if your Pension Identification Report delivers nothing material.

PensionHunter Pension Identification Report applies our documented identification methodology across every relevant provider, scheme administrator and government register in a single country and return an automated report within 24 to 48 hours. The Enhanced Pension Identification Report adds human-expert manual follow-up, we prepare a complete information request for every fund we identify, written and ready to send, and we pursue every lead. The Global Pension Identification Report extends the human-expert manual service across all the countries you have worked in. Enhanced Pension Identification Report, $499: your Action Pack, a complete request pack for every fund we identify, written in your voice and ready to send, within five working days of your intake form. Global Pension Identification Report, $799: your Global Action Pack, the same across every country you worked in, up to all 41 we cover, within ten working days. If you have already run a Pension Identification Report, your $99 is credited when you upgrade.

A detailed automated report within 24 to 48 hours listing every provider, scheme administrator and government register our automated systems covered in your country, any matches identified, and contact details for each matched provider. The Country Pension Identification Report is AI assisted and automated. It identifies who holds your pension and gives you the contact route. The Enhanced and Global Pension Identification Reports add manual research and a prepared request pack for every fund we identify.

Yes, that is the whole point of the model. The Pension Identification Report is a deliberate capability sample: pay $99 for a complete report on ONE country, not a teaser; everything we find, fully sourced, so you can judge our work first. Enhanced Pension Identification Report, $499: your Action Pack, a complete request pack for every fund we identify, written in your voice and ready to send, within five working days of your intake form. Global Pension Identification Report, $799: your Global Action Pack, the same across every country you worked in, up to all 41 we cover, within ten working days. If you have already run a Pension Identification Report, your $99 is credited when you upgrade. Full refund if we find nothing material.

Full refund if we find nothing material.

No. There are no success fees, percentage fees, or hidden charges of any kind. The fixed tier fee, Country Pension Identification Report ($99), Enhanced ($499) or Global ($799), is the only fee you pay. We never take a cut of any pension entitlement you receive.

Free government tracing services only cover a single country and often take months to respond. They don't search across borders, don't trace employers, and don't tell you which scheme covered the years you worked. Our professional research team researches pension registries and traces employer records across all 41 countries we cover. At the Enhanced and Global Pension Identification Report tiers, we prepare a complete information request for every fund we identify, written and ready to send, under your signed Information Request Authority, you receive a written report with full contact details so you can act on the findings.

The research phase takes up to five working days from your intake form. At the Country Pension Identification Report tier you contact administrators yourself using the details in your report. You'll receive a research report documenting every registry searched and every employer traced. At the Enhanced and Global Pension Identification Report tiers, we draft a complete information request for every fund we identify, written and ready for you to send yourself, and the subsequent response phase typically spans 4 to 12 weeks. You send every request and the replies come to you; we do not correspond with administrators at any tier.

We cross-reference your employment history against national pension registries, employer tracing databases, provider directories and regulatory records across all 41 countries we cover, and we prepare a complete information request for every fund we identify, written and ready to send. The process combines Human experts + AI for multi-source verification.

Your pension still exists. When a company closes, merges or is acquired, pension obligations transfer to successor schemes, insurance companies or government protection funds, we trace these transfers and identify where your pension is held today.

When a company closes, its pension scheme doesn't disappear. The pension obligations are typically transferred to an insurance company, a successor employer, or a government protection scheme (such as the PPF in the UK). We trace these transfers to find where your pension sits today.

Yes. While a National Insurance number (or local equivalent) makes the research faster, it is not essential. We can trace pensions using your name, date of birth, employment history and other identifying information.

Nothing. We find it and report back to you in a written Action Pack. We provide you with full details of the provider, the scheme, and contact information. All decisions about what to do with your pension are entirely yours. We recommend consulting a qualified independent financial adviser before making any pension decisions.

You do. At the Enhanced and Global Pension Identification Report tiers we identify which fund holds each pension and prepare your Action Pack, a complete information request for every one, written and ready to send, with the verified contact details and what to ask for. You send it. We answer your questions about whatever comes back, on your workplace and state pension alike, for as long as your case is open.

One for every fund we identify. If you worked for four employers and we identify three funds, your pack contains three prepared information requests, each addressed to the right scheme administrator or trustee, ready to send. Where an employer cannot be matched to a scheme, we say so honestly, explain what that means, and give you the free official route to keep tracing rather than a letter addressed to nobody.

We re-send your report free, anytime: email hello@pensionhunter.ai from the address you ordered with. And the people around you can always approach us. If a family member ever needs help understanding the report or what to do next, our research team will guide them through it. Where a report or case details need to be shared, we first complete the appropriate checks, so your information only ever reaches the right hands.

The report is built to outlive its owner. It names every institution, every contact route and every reference your family needs, and whoever holds it can approach our team at any time. We help them understand what it says, and at Enhanced Pension Identification Report tier we prepare the information requests for the estate in the executor's name, written and ready to send, with the executor attaching the documents that establish their authority. Providers respond to your family directly. Where anything needs to be shared, we complete the appropriate checks first.

Our service covers research and identification only. Once we've identified your pension and provided you with all the details, the claiming process is between you and the pension provider. We provide all the contact information and documentation you need to proceed.

Only if you held Singapore citizenship or permanent residence while you worked there. Foreigners on an Employment Pass or other work pass have been excluded from CPF since 1 January 2003, so for those years no CPF account exists in your name. Anything set aside for you sits in your employer's own arrangement. If you were a permanent resident, check your account at cpf.gov.sg. Rule checked 4 August 2026.

No, not in the national system. Compulsory social insurance for foreign workers began on 1 December 2018 under Decree 143/2018/ND-CP, and the pension and survivorship element on 1 January 2022. For Vietnamese employment before December 2018 nothing was being set aside for you by the state. If a foreign employer seconded you, anything that exists sits with that employer. Rule checked 4 August 2026.

Estate pension searches, LPA-authorised searches and probate-partner referrals are currently paused pending legal review. The UK Pension Tracing Service and equivalent official channels in other jurisdictions remain available to executors, attorneys and next of kin.

Your data is encrypted and handled under UK GDPR. We never cold-call, never ask for bank details, and never ask you to transfer your pension. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO Registration No. ZC113586). We never sell or share your data without your explicit consent. All information is used solely for the purpose of your pension research.

No. PensionHunter provides pension research and administrative assistance only. We are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority because we do not provide financial advice, manage pension funds, or conduct claims management activity. We are a research and administrative service.

No. We research pensions and report our findings to you. We do not advise you on what to do with your pension. We always recommend consulting a qualified independent financial adviser before making any pension decisions.