Who will be able to use pensions dashboards

Although most people will be able to use pensions dashboards, there are some practical reasons that will limit some people’s ability to access dashboards, or change their experience of using them.

Without using dashboards, people will still be able to find information about their pensions using existing channels, such as contacting their pension providers and schemes, or through their annual statements.

How old users have to be

There are no age restrictions on who can use a pensions dashboard. However, there are practical reasons why someone’s age may change their experience.

Young people

Younger people, including those under 18, may have pensions already. This includes junior SIPPs opened for them or pensions via their workplace. Depending on their size, providers of these pensions may be connected to the pensions dashboards ecosystem.

However, younger people may find it more difficult to pass the identity verification required to access dashboards because they may not have sufficient credit history. The GOV.UK One Login verification process may include a credit check and people under 18 may not have enough information to have their identity successfully verified.

Older people

Older people and those who are already retired can use pensions dashboards.

Although dashboards will only show information for workplace or personal pensions that have not been accessed (such as through drawdown, payments, or by taking a lump sum) many people, including those in retirement, may find pensions they were unaware of. There are an estimated 3.3 million pots worth over £31.1 billion that are unclaimed or unmatched to their owner.

The possibility of finding lost or unclaimed pension pots, and seeing unclaimed pensions information in one place, make pensions dashboards potentially valuable for people at different stages of their career or retirement.

Similarly, no information about the State Pension will be shown once the user has reached State Pension age, even if they have delayed taking it or not claimed it. This is the same as for the Check your State Pension forecast tool. Find out more about State Pension information on pensions dashboards.

Users must pass identity verification via GOV.UK One Login

To use a pensions dashboard, people need to pass identity verification using GOV.UK One Login, which is used across a range of government services.

There are 3 ways for someone to prove their identity with GOV.UK One Login:

1. Using the GOV.UK One Login app: This includes taking a photo of an accepted photo ID and of themselves.
2. Answering knowledge-based security questions online: Questions are based on a UK credit report about things like their bank accounts, credit cards, loans, mortgages or mobile phone contracts.
3. In-person at a Post Office: This involves first entering details from an accepted photo ID on GOV.UK and then going to a Post Office.

Each of these routes has different requirements, but all routes require some form of accepted photo ID, and the knowledge-based security question route requires a sufficient level of information in someone’s credit report.

There is no alternative to using GOV.UK One Login for proving your identity in order to access a pensions dashboard.

Citizenship requirements

There is no restriction on citizenship or nationality to use pensions dashboards though users will only be able to see pension information from their providers and schemes which are based in the United Kingdom.

People living overseas

Living overseas may impact someone’s ability to pass identity verification, but this will depend on what verification route they take. It’s likely to be more difficult for those who have lived overseas for many years, don’t maintain UK financial accounts, don’t have a UK address, or have limited recent UK credit activity.

For example, knowledge-based verification may be more difficult as questions are based on UK credit records and some people who have moved abroad may have outdated or insufficient UK credit history. Additionally, using the in-person Post Office verification route may not be practical for those living overseas.

Using the GOV.UK One Login app may be most accessible for those overseas. This route may not include checks requiring a current UK address, when paired with some forms of ID, like passports with biometric chips.

Device requirements

Although only the GOV.UK One Login app route has specific device and operating system requirements, all routes require access to a device connected to the internet.

Similarly, pensions dashboards are currently designed as a digital-only service, with no plans to provide physical copies of someone’s pensions information. However, dashboards supplement rather than replace existing non-digital sources of pensions information such as annual benefit statements or pension illustrations on request.

People do not need a smartphone to prove their identity. They can verify their identity online by answering security questions, or by entering details from a photo ID on GOV.UK and visiting a Post Office to have their photo taken or their ID scanned.

If they prefer to use the GOV.UK One Login app, they will need a smartphone with a working camera and, currently, an operating system of at least iOS 15 for iPhones or Android 10 for Android.

Digital accessibility

Pensions dashboards and the services that make them work are being designed from the ground up to be accessible to as wide a variety of users as possible, including those with accessibility needs.

The MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard is being built to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA standard and will be tested against different devices and browsers, in line with government principles.

User testing, which is currently underway, will include people with a broad range of accessibility needs, including those with mobility, visual, hearing, cognitive, learning and physical impairments. This will help identify issues and solve them before the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard is made publicly available.

Delegated access

The legislation allows users to delegate access to their pensions information to authorised financial advisers with the relevant permissions. However, this feature is out of scope of the first iterations of pensions dashboards.

Members of small pension schemes

Over 99% of pension records are required by law to be connected to pensions dashboards providing wide coverage for the vast majority of savers. However, some small workplace schemes with under 100 members do not have to connect.

Some individuals may have a significant portion of their workplace pension savings in schemes like these, so they may not find as much information about their pensions via a dashboard.