Two thirds (66%) of UK pension savers who have declined to consolidate their retirement savings have also never tried to track down pension pots they have lost track of, according to new research.

A third (27%) of those who have lost pensions intend to track them down but 39% say they have no plans to do so, according to a new report from Standard Life.

The most common reasons for not tracking down a lost pension were not knowing where to start (31%) or thinking it is not worth the effort (17%).

Three in five (60%) of the adults surveyed have never combined their workplace pensions.

The trend was most pronounced among older groups with almost three in four of the Silent Generation (73%) saying they’ve never consolidated their pension pots, and two in three Baby Boomers (65%) and Gen X (66%). Half of Millennials (50%) and 55% of Gen Z have also never consolidated their pots.

Mike Ambery, retirement and savings director at Standard Life, said: “Millions of people risk losing out on valuable retirement savings simply because they’ve lost track of their pensions. With multiple job moves now the norm, it’s easy for pots to slip through the cracks.”

The report also found that a worrying 26% of UK pension savers do not know who their current pension provider is.

There was a lack of awareness about what happens to pension when changing jobs.

A quarter (24%) of those surveyed were not aware that moving employers can lead to multiple pension pots and only 30% had kept track of all their pensions from previous jobs.

• Opinium surveyed 2,000 UK adults on behalf of Standard Life between 12 and 15 August.