The Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA) has published guidance to help pension schemes, providers and administrators develop clear, consistent and accessible processes for handling 'possible matches' identified through pensions dashboards.

The guidance, Resolving Possible Matches – FAQ Approach, sets out practical considerations for resolving cases where dashboard information suggests a potential link to a pension record, but further checks are needed to confirm ownership.

It covers areas including contact routes, identity checks, communication with savers, data protection, monitoring and handling unresolved cases.

PASA said effective resolution processes will be important in helping people reconnect with lost or forgotten pension pots while helping to guard against fraud and misidentification.

The guidance also highlights opportunities for schemes and administrators to improve data quality as part of the process.

It has been published as the industry works towards the 31 October 2026 deadline for pension schemes and providers in scope to connect to the pensions dashboards ecosystem.

Commenting on the guidance, PASA chair David Fairs said: “Possible matches are an important part of helping people find pensions where records are incomplete or details have changed.

"What happens next will influence their confidence in dashboards and their willingness to stay engaged.

“This guidance helps organisations prepare for those interactions, with clear processes which support users, protect their information and help them reach a reliable outcome.”

PASA Dashboards Working Group, Operational Readiness Subgroup, chair, David Brooks, explained that savers may be asked to contact an unfamiliar organisation about a pension they are unsure belongs to them.

“Administrators need to make that experience understandable and reassuring, while carrying out the checks needed to establish whether there’s a match,” he said.

“We’ve focused on the practical questions teams will face, from routing enquiries and assessing evidence to explaining outcomes. The aim is to support proportionate processes which work for users and can be delivered consistently at volume.”

PASA Dashboards Working Group chair, Maurice Titley, added that savers are already beginning to follow up possible matches in live testing.

The new guidance should be read alongside the updated version of PASA’s Data Matching Convention guidance, published in 2025, which supports the industry with setting matching criteria and flagging possible matches.

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