Life Assurance/death in service

Tammy32

Hi,

Unfortunately my friends mom died at the end of February and she worked for a very large global company, with her job she got the benefit of life assurance/death in service which pays out 3 times her yearly wage, she was not married so the money should be coming to my friend and her 2 sisters, although her mom did not name any beneficiaries, does anyone know how long it takes to get the money through? If anyone has had any experience of this then she would be grateful for an answer as has no idea. My friend has sent the HR dept her mom's death certificate as requested by them. Thanks in advance.

somethingcorporate

I work for a big global company and one of my colleagues lost his wife who also worked at the same company. It took him months and quite a bit of wrangling to get paid out, he said out of all the policies (private etc) the company we worked for were the slowest and most difficult.

To be honest, aside from anecdotal information and experiences such as the above I don't think anyone can advise you. Have you called their HR and asked? If it's a big company I am sure they are quite used to the process (not that it will make it any easier).

dunstonh

so the money should be coming to my friend and her 2 sisters, although her mom did not name any beneficiaries

Has this actually been confirmed as some death in service benefits will only go to spouse or dependent children? Scheme rules will vary.

Tammy32

Hi, thank you, to be honest I don't think she has asked, they just confirmed that she and her sisters would get the money as they were her direct family, perhaps I should tell her to call them. It's such a shame they are all in bits as it was very sudden. They've had to pay for the funeral on credit card as who has £3500 lying around these days. Thanks for your reply.

Tammy32

Hi dunstonh, yes HR did confirm that the trustees would more than likely pass the benefit to my friend and her sisters. Thanks