Four in five UK adults remain unaware of pensions dashboards, despite the approaching connection deadline and growing expectations that the tool will play a key role in retirement planning, research from KPMG UK has revealed.

The study found that 80 per cent of UK adults have not heard of the pensions dashboard, with awareness particularly low among those closest to retirement.

Among those aged 55–64, 81 per cent were unaware of the initiative, rising to 87 per cent among those aged 65 and over.

This comes with less than six months to go until all pension providers and occupational schemes must be connected to the new MoneyHelper pensions dashboard.

In contrast, awareness is higher among younger age groups, with 30 per cent of those aged 18–24 aware of the dashboard, followed by 25 per cent of 35–44-year-olds and 22 per cent of those aged 25–34.

Commenting on the findings, KPMG UK head of insurance, Huw Evans, said it was encouraging to see stronger awareness among younger savers, although more work was needed across all age groups.

“Those closer to retirement may already feel they have a handle on their pensions, which could explain lower awareness in those age groups.

“There is a lot more to do to drive up awareness and explain how dashboards will help people save into pensions, understand potential future retirement income, and track down lost pension pots.”

Despite low awareness, the appetite to use the dashboard appears relatively strong.

More than half (53 per cent) of UK adults said they would be likely to use the tool once available, with interest highest among those aged 35–44, where 71 per cent said they would engage.

Among those likely to use the dashboard, over half (53 per cent) said they would access it within the first month of launch, including 18 per cent who would do so within the first two to three weeks.

However, barriers to engagement remain.

Around 13 per cent of respondents said they were very unlikely to use the dashboard, with concerns over data security (31 per cent) and fears of unsolicited marketing or financial promotions (28 per cent) cited as the main deterrents.

A further 21 per cent said they did not see the need for the dashboard, believing they already had a reasonable understanding of their pension savings.

The research also highlighted what could encourage greater uptake, with respondents pointing to the ability to view all pensions in one place (22 per cent), confidence in data security (21 per cent), and clear projections of retirement income (18 per cent) as key factors.

Evans argued that the findings underscored the need for a renewed focus on public engagement as the dashboards programme moves towards full rollout.

“Pensions dashboards have the potential to be a powerful tool; helping people to better understand the value of both their state and private pensions and make informed decisions for the future,” he continued.

“The pensions sector and the pensions dashboards programme have worked tirelessly to connect over 60 million records to date, but the scale of the task has inevitably meant that promotion has taken a back seat.

“Our research is a reminder that the work must start now to step up awareness of pensions dashboards, especially among the age groups closest to retirement.”

---