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Help with Pension Search

What to do if you cannot find a name

  • Check your spelling and try searching again
  • If you believe you are entitled to a pension from PBGC, but cannot find your name or company, first make sure that:
    • Your pension plan has been trusteed by PBGC. To see if your pension plan has been trusteed by PBGC, go to Find your pension plan. If the plan is not yet trusteed by PBGC, then your name will not appear in our Pension Search list. Exception: Plans covered by the Page Collins or Rettig settlement agreements or ended in a standard termination may not have been trusteed by PBGC and generally will not appear in the list of pension plans. However, participants from these plans who we are trying to locate are included in the Pension Search list.
      • Note that PBGC trustees only traditional "defined benefit" pension owned by private companies. "Defined benefit" pension plans are those plans which promise to pay a specific monthly amount to participants when they retire. Plans such as profit-sharing or 401(k) plans are not considered "defined benefit" plans. PBGC does not insure federal pension plans.
    • Also see our publication Finding a Lost Pension [PDF]

What to do if you cannot find a company

  • Check your spelling and try searching again
  • In some cases, the name of the organization that sponsored the pension plan may have changed due to mergers, reorganizations, bankruptcies, etc.
  • Also see our publication Finding a Lost Pension [PDF]

If your name has an asterisk (*) next to it

An asterisk next to your name indicates that, based on the records currently available to PBGC, you are not entitled to a benefit under the provisions of your insured pension plan. However, we encourage you to contact PBGC for a final determination. You may provide additional documentation that may establish your entitlement to a benefit.

If your name is on the list

If you find your name on the list, or if you are a survivor of a person listed, you can contact PBGC in several ways:

  • Call us toll-free at 1-800-326-LOST. (TTY/TDD users, call the federal relay service toll-free at 1-800-877-8339 and ask to be connected to 1-800-326-LOST);

  • E-Mail us at found@pbgc.gov. When submitting information by e-mail, please be assured that the information will be used only for the purposes described here. However, we cannot assure the security of the information during transmission. Please review PBGC's Privacy Policy;

  • Write to us to receive an application for the pension benefit PBGC may be holding for you:

  • The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

    P.O. Box 151750

    Alexandria, Va. 22315-9923

Please provide the following information when you contact PBGC:

  • Your name;
  • Social Security number;
  • Mailing address;
  • Daytime and evening telephone numbers; and
  • Company name and dates you worked for the company.

If you are a survivor of a person on the list

If you are a survivor of the person listed, you will be asked similar information about yourself. Use the toll-free number only if you identify yourself as a person listed in the directory or a survivor of that person.

If your name is not on the list

People who believe they may be missing from the records of a terminated defined benefit pension plan, or are surviving beneficiaries and are not on the pension search directory list, should first try to contact the pension plan administrator or the company sponsoring the plan.

  • If the sponsoring company cannot be located, participants who believe they are owed a benefit should contact PBGC by writing to:

  • PBGC Pension Search Program

    1200 K Street, NW, Suite 930

    Washington, DC 20005-4026

  • E-Mail us at found@pbgc.gov. When submitting information by e-mail, please be assured that the information will be used only for the purposes described here. However, we cannot assure the security of the information during transmission. Please review PBGC's Privacy Policy.
  • Please provide the following information when you contact PBGC:
    • Your name;
    • Social Security number;
    • Mailing address;
    • Daytime and evening telephone numbers; and
    • Company name and dates you worked for the company.