Life insurance policy for my deceased father

Semisonic147

Hi there, my father passed away in April 2020. He didn't leave a will so legally his estate is left to myself, and my brother and sister. I have been granted probate so I am the administrator of his estate. We assume they my dad had life insurance but didn't have any paperwork but I remember a rep from royal london used to come round the house to collect premiums when I was a kid. I've got copies of his bank statements and I can see a regular monthly payment to Royal London with a ref number. I called them to find out the details but they can't find a policy, I've given my dad's name, dob, address, NI number, death certificate number and they said there is no record. Is this a common tactic to put you off claiming? What can u do now? 

dunstonh

Is this a common tactic to put you off claiming?

No.  Insurance companies are actually very good with it comes to death claims.

 I can see a regular monthly payment to Royal London with a ref number

Is that a standing order or a direct debit?

Royal London have multiple offices and their systems are not linked.   For example, RL bought the old CIS book but that is still run out of Manchester.  Whereas Bright Grey and Scottish Life books are run out of a different office.     Have you contacted all the offices of Royal London?

Old_Lifer

There is no tactic to put you off claiming.   People tend to keep their life policy documentation in a safe place but so far you have not found any.   He may have taken-out a policy earlier in life which may or may not still exist   Is it a recent bank statement or is it a few years old ? 

You say that a policy was taken-out with RL when you were young and premiums were collected by a rep, but that must have been decades ago.   The good thing is that RL still exists.   It would be more difficult to trace if he had taken-out a policy with a different provider which had now become RL.

The first person you contact will probably be quite junior/young,  so may not be familiar with old policies from long ago whereas someone  more senior may recognize the number sequence in the reference.    I would try again and follow it up with a letter.

Semisonic147

Yes he was paying it for about 40 years, which is what I would think would happen for life insurance. The payment in the statement is a DD and he was paying it right up until he died.
I'm going to call them again later and see if I can speak to someone more senior as I think a "normal" call handler possibly would have the skills or time to look into this query fully 

Old_Lifer

I would be inclined to send a letter by recorded delivery ( called 'signed for' nowadays I think)   saying  that  at the time he died, your father was paying them a monthly amount of   £...............under  reference............ .  Tell them your father's full name, date of birth and address at time of death.    Ask them to explain the reason for the monthly payment.

The letter will put the ball  firmly in their court and should concentrate minds and force them to give you an explanation.

dunstonh

I would be inclined to send a letter by recorded delivery ( called 'signed for' nowadays I think) 

If it's a PO Box address there the signed for option is a waste of money.  Nobody at the firm signs for it.