My dad passed suddenly, I would be ever so grateful if anyone can help with any advice

katies_mum

thank you, yes I used the Tell Us Once service last week.

katies_mum

Many thanks thegreenone, I have just spoken to DWP, the guy was so helpful.   Dad`s was in the queue to be dealt with, he logged into his case, sorted out how much pension needs to be repaid (I knew there would be a few weeks), so was sorting that to be taken back from the bank.
He then checked on mum`s details, and said yes she would be eligible for Widows Pension but it was a different department and she should hear within the next 2 weeks, it would be backdated to 11th January.   

He also suggested that mum applies for pension credit and to do this asap to start and get it processed as even a very small pension credit would open up some more benefits for her.

sheramber

Another thing to  consider is your mother's will.

Does she have one? Does it need updating/ a new one  now?

anna42hmr

glad to hear you've mainly had good experiences from most of the companies, shame about your problems with the breakdown company.  We had very good experiences from most of the companies/agencies when dealing with dads estate, especially from the bereavement units, (albeit some where slower than others). 

katies_mum

sheramber, no she does not have a will, it is on the to-do-list.

Not much further on at the moment as waiting for so many companies to get back to us with forms/info etc.  You all said it would take a good while to sort out, I wish they would do more online as despite taking email information no one is using it.

katies_mum

Hi all, hope you are well and are keeping safe after this awful weather.

Things are moving quite slowly but at least the to do list has a few ticks.  Mum has switched her bank account to Santander, even though Barclays bereavement department were wonderful the rest of the bank is an absolute shambles.

HMRC is sorted for Dad and they have explained to me how mums tax will work 22/23 and a letter has been sent to have me registered on mums account to deal with all her tax from now on.  The lady I spoke to at HMRC was so lovely.

Two of the life insurance companies have paid out very quickly (one from info given online and the other from completion of a very short form) but its funny how they don`t all work the same, the final company we are still waiting on Phoenix Life... have sent 7 pages for completion and return together with the original policy and original DC (this is the first company that has asked for either of these) upon receipt it will be up to 10 working days before mum hears from them!!

We are still waiting for DWP to take back the pension over payment, they have been quite quick sorting everything else out, I thought this would have been taken by now.

Buildings and contents policies transferred into mums name, just need to sort a combined policy for her in the next month or so.
Car sold and small amount of tax refunded.

Still waiting to hear about council tax, but after filling out the online form for council tax reduction, mum has been awarded quite a bit more pension from DWP.  I am not sure whether to wait for them to contact her regarding the details I submitted, or to ring them with the new info.  As they don`t seem to work very quickly and it took ages to get through to them last time not sure which way would be best?  any suggestions would be brilliant, thanks

This is a bit of an odd one and I`m in a bit of a quandary as to whether to pursue it or just move on...  on the 29th Dec when the palliative care person came to visit dad for the first time, after discussing all sorts of stuff with him she mentioned he would be eligible for Attendance Allowance, she asked him to sign a form and said because of him being terminally ill it would be fast tracked and he would hear from them within a couple of weeks.  I only remembered this earlier today and nothing has ever been sent out from them.  I appreciate it would only have been paid for 2 weeks as sadly he passed very unexpectedly on the 11th Jan.  Not sure if its worth following up or not?

Finally, please might anyone know much about Pension Credit?  I filled out the form on Entitledto and it said mum would get a very small amount of Pension Credit Savings but when I do the form on the Gov website it says she will get nothing.  Is it worth trying as it could mean free TV licence and possibly slight reduction on council tax?

My list is getting shorter thanks to all the great advice you have shared and the help you have given me.  I am very, very appreciative, thank you all xx

l

TripleH

There are companies even now (coming up to 3 years since we lot my father) who still haven't removed his details (NatWest still have him on parents company deposit account despite removing him from the current account).

My mother has accepted this incompetence now and it no longer upsets her. Sadly it is a part of the process. Also even if you update everyone, items will be missed and itcan take time for all changes to work through the systems.

I got a call the other day asking to speak to an ex-boss from over 10 years ago (sadly he passed a year before my father), it all depends on when numbers have been given as well. Some companies will only contact when the normal number no longer works