Nearly three million workers are at risk of losing out when paying extra into their workplace pensions by receiving no additional employer contributions but being hit with fees.

Research from investment platform InvestEngine found that 2.8m workers are at risk of paying high fees on extra contributions.

It said high fees erode the potential of pension pots, quoting the example of someone saving £400 a month into their pension but paying a 0.75% annual fee who would be more than £142,000 worse off in 40 years than if there was no fee.

It pointed out that workers who put additional contributions into a lower or no-fee personal pension, such as a SIPP, could find themselves tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of pounds better off when they retire.

Overall, a third of workers in the UK now have a DC workplace pension scheme, equivalent to 13.7m workers.

The research found that three in 10 (30%) workers with DC pensions – equal to 4.2million people - said their employer does not offer to increase their contributions. Despite this, three in ten (30%) workers in that position still choose or would want to make additional contributions, even though they would receive no extra employer contributions.

The research also revealed that one in five (19%) workers have a personal pension such as a SIPP, paying in an average of £226 per month. But paying the average account fees across the top providers on the amount over 40 years would still mean they are over £35,000 worse off.

According to InvestEngine’s survey, the top three providers for personal pensions are Fidelity (up to 0.35% fee), Hargreaves Lansdown (0.45%) capped at £16.67 p/m; and AJ Bell (0.25% capped at £10 p/m).

George Bonello, head of pensions at InvestEngine, said: “We know that too few people are adequately saving into a pension for their retirement. But it’s also concerning that those who are able to make additional contributions to their pension each month may in fact be losing out by not shopping around for a lower cost provider.

“As it stands, more than a million people are making payments in their DC workplace schemes where they’re not getting anything more from their employer, but are still paying fees on their funds.

“Given there are completely fee-free options available, this means that workers could be significantly worse off at retirement.”

• Opinium, on behalf of InvestEngine, surveyed 2,000 nationally representative adults between 28 February and 4 March.