Death In Service Payments

houdinireturns

hi all

My uncle died last year and i was named as his next of kin,i arranged his funeral and sorted out his estate.
I have since found out he named me as the only benifactor on his companys death in service policy and have checked with a solicitor to ensure its not part of his estate and no other greedy family member could challenge it in court.
He left a few debts behind and i know i dont have to legally pay them from the policy but would like to to ensure he died debt free.My main question is(and i know it depends from company to company)but he was there for 8 years(annual salry £16500) and im wondering if anybody has any idea of what the final pament will/could be.
Thanks

CannySaver_2

Hi

It all depends on the type of scheme, most occupational pension schemes have a death in service of between one and four times salary. However Group Personal Pension plans, which are becoming more popular, simply offer the fund value as a tax free lump sum, unless the employer has set up a death in service scheme alongside it.

Which pension is it? If it's a popular scheme such as the NHS or local authority you will probably be able to get an answer on here. If not make a call to the scheme on Monday morning and aks them, they should be able to tell you.

As an aside, I think I am right in saying that the death in service of an occupational pension scheme falls outside of the estate and therefore does not HAVE to be used to repay debts.

Hope this helps.

The Canny Saver

houdinireturns

hi
it was with bupa but im not quite sure which policy,would it be a massive difference in payment between them?
thanks

dunstonh

Death in service payments are never part of the estate and are paid out at the discretion of the trustees. Same goes for money purchase pensions.

He left a few debts behind and i know i dont have to legally pay them from the policy

Debts should be paid out of the assets in the estate. Not pension or death in service benefits which do not form part of the estate.

Are you sure the Bupa policy is life assurance and not private medical insurance or are you saying he worked for Bupa and it is their employee scheme benefits?

atush

The debts should be paid by his estate, and if there are no funds to do so die with him.

If you insist on paying them when you don't have to, i would negotiate a lower amt.

houdinireturns

He worked for a company that had there policy with bupa if that is any help?Any idea how long it takes to process as i was informed 6-8 weeks.
It was a comprehensive staff pension and benefit scheme if that helps.
Thanks