Based on the new draft regulations on Pensions Dashboards which will be rolled out over the next few years, the Government will compel all pension schemes and providers to share their data with pension dashboards. They will be required to put in place a technology solution which will easily share their customers’ data with pensions dashboards, connecting them to the ecosystem.
The aim is to bring an individual’s pension information from across their pensions under one dashboard. A pension dashboard will reconnect users to their lost pensions and help them better plan their retirement.
TPR is urging trustees to prepare for their pension dashboard deadline. Pension schemes and providers are required to comply with the new pensions regulations - which are believed to roll out soon - as this legislation will be compulsory.
What is a Pensions Dashboard?
A pensions dashboard will enable anyone who’s paid into a pension to have full visibility of their pension plans across various providers - including the State Pension - in one place. They will be able to access information about their pension savings, such as their value and where to find them, bringing them closer to their lost pensions.
Pension schemes and providers will connect to the pensions dashboard ecosystem and share their customers’ data, securely and compliantly. Subsequently, when a user logs in and requests information on their pension, the dashboard will retrieve the information via an ISP (an Integrated Services Provider), which finds the information and displays it on the dashboard. Alternatively you can build the technology in house to share customer data directly to the dashboard without an ISP.
How will pension schemes and providers share their data?
Pension schemes and providers will be required to share their customers’ data with the ecosystem for the pensions dashboard to work. It includes sharing:
- Administrative data such as details about the pension arrangement and provider,
- Value data which is an estimated retirement income,
- And any additional information and guidance about the pension.
A user will be able to request and receive pension information that will bring awareness to their pension savings and help them better prepare for their retirement.
In order to successfully share customers’ pension data and connect to the pension dashboard ecosystem, schemes and providers have to decide whether:
- They’ll connect directly to the ecosystem,
- Or via a third party also known as Integrated Service Provider (ISP), which will create its own API connections with the ecosystem, the providers and customers.
Pension providers that lack the resources to connect directly to the pensions dashboard have to work with a third-party provider. An ISP will connect providers’ pension information to the dashboard ecosystem seamlessly and compliantly. There are extra costs for this type of service but it saves providers from going through the process of developing the technology internally in order to connect to the ecosystem directly.
The ISP market has been growing steadily over the past few years, with Raindrop developing its services and adapting to the latest market developments.
How will the Pensions Dashboard programme revolutionise pensions?
A pension dashboard will help people reconnect with their lost pension pots. It will simplify pensions helping individuals better understand the information and guidance they are receiving in regards to their pensions and better prepare for their retirement.
Improved awareness and understanding of their pensions will help customers better engage with their pensions and seek advice when historically lack of understanding was preventing them from doing so.
Apart from bringing awareness to pensions and solving the issue of lost pension pots, the dashboard will show an estimated retirement income from each pension plan. It will enable people to calculate the total income they may have to live on in their retirement, understand the value of their pensions and have confidence in their future plans.
However, it’s important to note that there are limitations to this service. For example, a pensions dashboard will not allow users to compare plans but rather have visibility of their existing ones. Also, customers will need to contact each of their providers themselves to request a consolidation service as the dashboard will not provide the option to transfer or consolidate one's pensions.
Lastly, the dashboard may not retrieve pension information in an accurate and efficient way at first. This is because the Government is still deciding on the dashboard guidelines which makes it difficult for providers to prepare to meet the pension dashboard deadline. Simply, there won’t be a sufficient amount of registered providers and data for the system to search and find the requested information at first.
What’s next
The Pensions Dashboard was initially meant to go live sometime in 2026. However, the programme’s launch date has been pushed back due to delays. The connection deadline is currently 31 October 2026 but no Dashboards Available Point has been set yet.
Until then, the onboarding of providers to the dashboard ecosystem is gradual and completed in various stages. The pensions dashboard service will be limited and inefficient at times to customers looking for their lost pensions. This is due to the high likelihood that the dashboard will not cover every single person in the UK due to data mismatch issues. Furthermore the dashboard may return back a “maybe match” to a customer requesting their pension information. This means the customer “might” have a pension however to confirm this the customer will need to contact the various providers in question and provide identity verification.
However, hope is not lost as Raindrop’s smart pension finder was developed to locate lost pension pots. Our smart technology enables financial advisors and pension providers to implement pension finding as a bespoke service to their customers, helping them find their pensions.
We also facilitate pension transfers and consolidations if needed. We understand that pension consolidation is a solution to the issue of multiple pension pots with various providers, and we believe that the demand for consolidation services will be much more prominent in the future.
In the meantime, we’ll continue to share updates as the Pension Dashboard Project progresses.
