Insurance claim pre death

FiFiStup

Hi, my father in law died last week- there is no money at all - no insurance other than an ongoing car accident insurance claim - the accident was in March & they still haven't paid out.
I contacted them yesterday & they are saying they need letters of administration - BUT there is no estate - the only money will be the insurance payout.
am I correct in this & how can I get them to accept to pay out to the next of kin (my son).
Can anyone advise the wording of a letter I need to send them please as I will be sending the death certificate.
We need the payout to pay for any funeral.

KatrinaWaves

FiFiStup wrote: »

Hi, my father in law died last week- there is no money at all - no insurance other than an ongoing car accident insurance claim - the accident was in March & they still haven't paid out.
I contacted them yesterday & they are saying they need letters of administration - BUT there is no estate - the only money will be the insurance payout.
am I correct in this & how can I get them to accept to pay out to the next of kin (my son).
Can anyone advise the wording of a letter I need to send them please as I will be sending the death certificate.
We need the payout to pay for any funeral.
can I also add that the stress of the delay re the insurers added to my father in law having a heart attack which subsequently he died of.

i really wouldnt go around accusing the insurers of effectively killing your FIL...

FiFiStup

sorry totally stressed - deleted

TonyMMM

Next of kin has no real legal meaning in England/Wales - the money will be payable to the estate, but they are within their rights to insist on only paying out to the executor/administrator if they so wish.

Have you established that he had no other assets at all or that he didn't have debts owing to anyone ?

Is the claim on-going or has an amount been agreed ? If it has all been agreed and making the payment is the only issue, you may find an understanding funeral director will allow you to delay payment whilst you apply for administration ( but check with them first).

FiFiStup

He had debt as he had an IVA in place. The claim is ongoing - we believe they offered a payout but he rejected this.
Do I have to go to probate then? or how do I apply for administration? (or my son)

Silvertabby

My sympathies on your loss.

Unfortunately, you are stuck in Catch 22. You currently don't appear to need probate or letters of administration, as there is no estate - BUT the insurance claim will be paid to the estate and may be high enough to require probate/letters of administration.

Do you have any idea of how much the claim pay out could be? If the insurance company won't give you figures over the phone, then they should at least confirm if the amount is over their probate limit. To be fair, they need to ensure that they are paying this money to the right person.

FiFiStup

Hi, thanks - he was offered £3k - I cant see it being much more than that as they now have no-one else to negotiate with.
I have been told that anything under £5k is under probate value


I just need to ensure what I write to them covers everything.

Robin9

FiFiStup wrote: »

.................. the next of kin (my son)........................l.

Can you confirm the family structure please?

I assume your FIL's wife has died.

What children did they have ?

Is your wife/husband still alive ? Do you have any other children ?

FiFiStup

no wife - divorced
one son - estranged - no contact
my son - grandson - noted as next of kin by gdad

geminilady

unless he made a will any money would go to the estranged son

Robin9

FiFiStup wrote: »

no wife - divorced
one son - estranged - no contact
my son - grandson - noted as next of kin by gdad

Further clarification please - are/were you married to the son ?