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Missing Life In/Assurance policy documents

Not sure where to start with this matter concerning my late Father who died without leaving a will. His entire estate has come to me as his only son. No Letters of Admin were needed for his cash at the bank. Everything else is looking straightforward with possibly some refunds due back to the DWP and so on.

One of his various friends has been in touch to pass condolences and enquire about funeral arrangements. She said something about an insurance policy which he was paying for through her. I.e. he paid her money which she then paid against a policy through her bank. I asked her who it was with and who the beneficiary was, to which the answer was that she didn't know... Nor did she seem to know who the policy was with exactly... saying that it used to be United Life which was taken over by Prudential which in turn got took on by somebody or other. She knew enough to say that it would need a death certificate for the policy to be paid out which strikes me as a bit odd.

We've left it that she will try and track down more information which she'll give me when we meet in a week's time.

One of my father's last actions was to tidy up his paperwork by having a mass shredding exercise. So any paperwork is very thin on the ground. Is there an organisation that I can get in touch with to see if indeed there is a policy in his name and who it is with ?

Comments

  • Gingernutty
    Gingernutty Posts: 3,769 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Your Dad had a strange way of conducting business - paying someone else to pay for an insurance policy but they don't know who it was to? Odd.

    Try here to find out if there was a policy in his name http://www.which.co.uk/money/savings-and-investments/guides/find-unclaimed-assets/life-insurance-and-friendly-societies/
    :huh: Don't know what I'm doing, but doing it anyway... :huh:
  • tdubya
    tdubya Posts: 19 Forumite
    Your Dad had a strange way of conducting business - paying someone else to pay for an insurance policy but they don't know who it was to? Odd.

    Agree. I did wonder if it sort of harks back to an earlier age where people set themselves up as Agents for different insurance companies and so on.

    I'll try the link you gave me, though that seems to be a route to track down old accounts rather than existing ones.
  • Mojisola
    Mojisola Posts: 35,571 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    tdubya wrote: »
    She said something about an insurance policy which he was paying for through her. I.e. he paid her money which she then paid against a policy through her bank.

    I asked her who it was with and who the beneficiary was, to which the answer was that she didn't know... Nor did she seem to know who the policy was with exactly... saying that it used to be United Life which was taken over by Prudential which in turn got took on by somebody or other. She knew enough to say that it would need a death certificate for the policy to be paid out which strikes me as a bit odd.

    If she was paying the money over, she must know who she was paying and have other details like a reference number for the policy.
  • Shelldean
    Shelldean Posts: 2,408 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    why does it strike you as odd that a death cert is needed before the policy will pay out?
    I thought this would be the norm for ALL policies, as otherwise how can you prove the insured person has died.

    I know when Nan died I had to send to a copy to both Ins companys. Think they wanted orginal copies too - but I had prepared for that and brought extra copies when I registered her death ( getting extra copies at time of registering is cheaper than returning later and getting more)
  • tdubya
    tdubya Posts: 19 Forumite
    Shelldean wrote: »
    why does it strike you as odd that a death cert is needed before the policy will pay out?
    I thought this would be the norm for ALL policies, as otherwise how can you prove the insured person has died.

    Sorry Shell, I've not made my point very clear. I thought it was odd that she seemed not to know much about the policy but enough to know that a death certificate is needed. A bit like the point that Moji made in reference to not knowing offhand who the insurance company are, but the money is paid out of her account.

    I agree with Moji and your points thanks.
  • Shelldean
    Shelldean Posts: 2,408 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    tdubya wrote: »
    Sorry Shell, I've not made my point very clear. I thought it was odd that she seemed not to know much about the policy but enough to know that a death certificate is needed. A bit like the point that Moji made in reference to not knowing offhand who the insurance company are, but the money is paid out of her account.

    I agree with Moji and your points thanks.

    ah ha get you now.

    Wonder if she's being dodgy and thinks she can benefit from this?? how well do you know her?
  • tdubya
    tdubya Posts: 19 Forumite
    Shelldean wrote: »
    ah ha get you now.

    Wonder if she's being dodgy and thinks she can benefit from this?? how well do you know her?

    I don't know her at all, and thats the case with some of his friends who maybe I've heard him talk about but not met. I'll take things at face value for now but will maintain a bit of a guard just in case.
  • Errata
    Errata Posts: 38,230 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Sounds like a load of twaddle. But ...... ask her who the money is being paid to from her bank account, and do not part with the death certificate.
    .................:)....I'm smiling because I have no idea what's going on ...:)
  • tdubya
    tdubya Posts: 19 Forumite
    Errata wrote: »
    Sounds like a load of twaddle. But ...... ask her who the money is being paid to from her bank account, and do not part with the death certificate.

    Thanks, I will follow this advice, though from what I gather there is nothing I can do to stop anyone getting a copy of the death certificate. We'll see how things pan out as it may all turn out to be something or nothing.
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