Understanding late Dad's pension

Sunshine777

Hi, I am new here so hopefully I have come to the right place. Four weeks ago my Father died, and we have been in complete shock. He was working , and died suddenly on one of his day's off. He had a Defined Contribution pension, and the claims department from the company have requested further information , such as was he married, did he have daughters/son's etc.
We provided that earlier this week including original birth certificates, etc and everything they needed.
Has anyone had experience of what to expect, and the length of time this would likely take, and how often the trustee's meet to decide who receives whatever money is due to be paid?
Such a dreadful experience, just want to have an idea on timescale.
Thank you

LHW99

So sorry for your loss.
People with better knowledge will be along shortly with better knowledge, but I suspect that it may take longer if there was no beneficiary nomination made by your father than if there was. Do you know?
More generally timescales may depend on the actual company involved, some will be quicker than others. Can you name them? Someone may have direct experience.

Sunshine777

Thank you, it is Legal and General. There was a form filled in but unsure what was on it.

mikeydevaney

Legal & General will respond very quickly, all insurers are geared to making quick replies under these circumstances. If your late father has nominated a beneficiary on his company pension scheme that person will receive the benefits. No way of detailing these benefits but Legal & General will supply details with evidence.
As above, very sorry to hear of this loss.

Clive_Woody

Sorry to hear of your loss. L&G may also want to see a copy of the will (if there is one).

My wife lost her father last year and although he had already retired and his pension was being paid, her mother had to jump through a lot of hoops before they started paying the spouse pension she was entitled to. Death certificate, marriage certificate, will and other documents had to be sent, even then it still took several months before they started payments (having suspended them when he died).

I don't recall who the pension provider was, but it wasn't L&G so hopefully they will be more proactive.

quotememiserable

It's all going to depend on the scheme rules, but most are similar.

Is your mum still alive? If so, she's likely to get 50% of the pension. If any of his children are under 18 or in full time education, they may get a part pension.
Since he died in service, there's very likely to be a life assurance element that will pay out a multiple of salary to his financial dependants or nominated beneficiaries.

You'll find out for sure when you speak to the pension administrators.

[Deleted User]

quotememiserable,
The pension in question is a defined contribution scheme, and the information you have given may not be correct.
Regards

Sunshine777

Thank you everyone.I have read what the likely entitlements are, I just wondered on time scales, like how often Trustee Boards meet or if anyone had experience dealing with Legal and General. They have all certificates needed that they requested and did ask for it as soon as possible as to not cause any delay. I am only young (ish) and never had to deal with anything like this before, so wasn't sure. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Brynsam

Sunshine777 wrote: »

Thank you everyone.I have read what the likely entitlements are, I just wondered on time scales, like how often Trustee Boards meet or if anyone had experience dealing with Legal and General. They have all certificates needed that they requested and did ask for it as soon as possible as to not cause any delay. I am only young (ish) and never had to deal with anything like this before, so wasn't sure. Any help is greatly appreciated.

If this is a defined contribution scheme with L&G, it sounds as if it was probably something called a group personal pension (rather than an occupational scheme) and there won't be a trustee board involved.

If your father completed a nomination form, it is highly likely that L&G will follow that (although not, as a previous poster suggests, a certainty).

Insurers are generally good at getting these unhappy things sorted out pretty promptly, provided they have all the information, but it could be at least a couple of weeks before you hear anything further. This isn't the insurer dragging their feet; they have to go through rather a lot of regulatory hoops before they can pay out.

I hope this goes smoothly at such a sad time for you.

Sunshine777

Thank you Brynsam. Your help is appreciated. We are all still in shock to be honest, but at least we have each other. I can understand these things do take time, ref the regulatory things,I just wanted to have a rough idea. Thank you again.

Sunshine777

Does anyone have any experience of Legal and General please? Thank you