Now everyone is auto enrolled into a new pension each time they change job we are all building up ever more pots, and many of us lose touch with them as time goes on.

Job switching, auto enrolment with every move, and people's tendency to lose pension information and not update schemes with contact details are all behind the rise in orphaned pots.

But it's important to track down lost pensions, and keep tabs on them between now and retirement age, to boost your eventual income.

If you find some old pensions and register your current details with them, ensure that you keep them updated with your new address whenever you move in future.

For the pensions industry, there is also an incentive to help unite people with lost pots. There are administration costs involved in maintaining data on them, and attempting to keep people updated using defunct contact details, when some might be very small.

So, old employer schemes and pension firms might be more helpful than you imagine in your search.

Steve Webb's top tips for finding old pensions

This is Money's pensions columnist Steve Webb has helped to reunite a number of readers with old retirement funds after they ran into brick walls when doing it alone.

This prompted him to write a free guide to finding lost pensions, published by the consultancy LCP where he works as a partner, and which gives more detailed advice than his tips below.

1. Start with the paperwork

The best place to start in hunting down a lost pension is always any official paperwork that you hold, writes Steve Webb.

This can include vital detail like policy numbers which make the job of tracing lost pensions much easier. For this reason it's vital that, even today, people keep all correspondence regarding their pensions rather than throwing it away.

2. Find out what happened to your former employer

Investigate whether the company you worked for at the time is still trading, whether it may have changed its name and whether you can still contact someone there today.

A good source of information is that provided by Companies House. On this free website, provided by the Government, you can enter details of the name of a company and get information about what happened to them.

Another is HMRC, where you can request your employment history from National Insurance records.

3. Try the Government's pension tracing service

If you type 'trace lost pension' into a search engine you will be offered a lot of commercial tracing services.

Take care with these links as they may go to firms which charge, try to sell you other services, or be fraudulent.

However, the Government offers a (quite limited) Pension Tracing Service which is in essence a kind of glorified telephone directory.

The Government site asks various questions and tries to identify an up-to-date contact.

This service is largely about tracing pension administration firms, which are those that might have been responsible for running your scheme at the time you were there. You can try to find out whether that business has now been taken on by another company who may hold records for your scheme. 

4. Follow the money

Track down whether the pension provider was taken over by another business or whether the pension scheme assets may now be held by an insurance company or a compensation scheme such as the Pension Protection Fund.

Your approach will vary depending on whether you are looking for a defined benefit or defined contribution pension - there is much more detail in the full guide here.

5. Use your own networks

Think about whether you are in touch with anyone whom you worked with at your old employer.

Just one person who is receiving a pension from the scheme today would be enough to find contact details and hopefully find your lost pension.

If you are no longer in touch with anyone you used to work with, you may be able to track them down through social media sites.

For example, although LinkedIn is mainly used by those who are active in employment, people may leave records there even when they have retired.

Another avenue is that some larger firms will have organisations for their retired employees. The members of such groups will undoubtedly have a lot of ‘folk knowledge’ about past pension arrangements and could be contacted to point you in the right direction.

Should you merge your old pensions?

Once you have found your pensions, a tidying up exercise can reduce fees and paperwork and bring new retirement investing options.

But merging pensions is not always advisable because you can risk losing valuable benefits - we look at the traps to avoid and what you need to know about combining pension pots here.

Don't be tempted to tap old pots before age 55

Beware the risk of fraudsters stealing your pot, plus a massive tax charge that will be levied by HMRC even if your money has already vanished in a scam.

There are very limited exceptions to the age 55 rule - and it will become age 57 from 6 April 2028.

We know of no legitimate company that will help you tap your pension early outside of them, via a loan or anything else – only scammers.

Steve Webb receives a steady stream of questions from people in financial trouble who want to access their pensions before they are 55.

We reply to warn every person who gets in touch about the dangers. Steve has answered reader questions on accessing a pension before you are 55, and alternative options open to you especially if you are in debt.