The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has rescued the pensions of 43,000 people since it started up in April 2005, according to its first annual report.
The report showed 98 schemes applied to be rescued in its first year of operation, with a collective deficit of £485m.
Car manufacturer Rover, department store Allders and parts maker T&N were among the firms to have gone bust, leaving their pension schemes with deficits.
The PPF is designed to pay 100% of existing pensions and 90% of prospective pensions.
PPF chairman Lawrence Churchill said: “The most significant outcome of our first year of operation is that more than 43,000 individuals across the UK now have financial security in retirement which would not have existed without the creation of the PPF.”
Since April this year, more schemes have applied to be rescued and the total now stands at 123.
As a result, the PPF expects that by the end of the current financial year the number of pension scheme members under its umbrella will have risen to 100,000.
