Missing trustees

Sam_B

My ex partner and sons father died suddenly in September. He left our 20 year old son well provided for. Today I received a letter from solicitor dealing with the estate informing me that there is a pension / life policy that is due to pay out to me. I'd forgotten all about it . We both took out policies just after our son was born. Naming each other as beneficiaries.
However abbey life require signatures of the two trustees. These were two work colleagues of his that he had lost touch with. Does anyone know if they will pay out with out trustees signatures?
Any advise please or has anyone else had this.
Thanks

Savvy_Sue

I'd start by phoning them if you can and explaining the situation, asking what alternatives there are. For example, one or both might have died ... so there must be alternatives!

Keep_pedalling

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'd start by phoning them if you can and explaining the situation, asking what alternatives there are. For example, one or both might have died ... so there must be alternatives!

Agree, this will not be an unknown issue for them and they must have alternative arrangements in place.

Might also be worth speaking to the solicitor dealing with the estate, who has probably dealt with similar situations in the past.

Sam_B

Have spoken to abbeylife and unless I can find the trustees they won't payout .

Yorkshireman99

Sam_B wrote: »

Have spoken to abbeylife and unless I can find the trustees they won't payout .

You need to go further up the chain of command. Call handlers work from a script.

chesky

Next time, ask them what they do if the trustees have died.

Sam_B

If they have died they need a death certificate. If I can't trace these people then abbey life get to keep 61k .
They won't even give it to my son who inherited everything his dad had.
I have name and address of the witness that signed the form , but that is dated October 1996 so a long shot that he still lives there.
The trustees I only have a initial and surname of one and full name of the other.
I'm looking for a Karen bailey and Mr J P Corcoran who used to work for a warehouse that distributed Armani , DKNY and Mulberry clothing in Park Royal London in the mid 1990's.
Solicitor is going to write to the address , failing that will have to use a people finder company.
Just doesn't seem right that they can do this.

poppystar

Agree it is ridiculous. If they were to be pivotal people in any payout you would have thought that Abbeylife would at least have wanted an address for each, full names and even a date of birth. Failing to do that presumably means that the only way they can assess if it is the correct people who come forward now is to match the signature?! And given one could now be married she might not even use the same signature.

I would have another go at phoning them and trying to get to the customer services/complaints department. I had to do that with another financial institution and it took hours of calls before they would even put me through to someone who could help. I think there are probably incentives for the first line of contact people to solve the problem and they consider that to be simply repeating the generic response they have in front of them.

Do not give up. This may take time you do not have but the alternative is expensive solicitors and people finders!


edit..
..and as for wanting a death certificate there is no way they can check that it is the correct person's from such little information - our own death certificates are the one things we do not get to sign!

Robin9

Invest in a Private Investigator to trace them.

My mother had a similar problem as an executor of a will - a bequest to a long lost relative. Went to the solicitor who employed a PI and within a week she had been traced.

mickey54

Nothing to add to what has already been said, but if your policy is still live, remember to change beneficiary. If you can.

chesky

Make an official complaint then take it up with the FSA.