Reassure

shaven76

Hello

im looking for any advice on the following -

My dad died May 2021 
last week ( 20/9/25) my elderly mother received a letter titled to the estate of my late father asking for a copy of his death certificate etc 
myself ( son ) and family knew nothing about the “ annuity policy “ mentioned in the letter so I sent a copy of the death certificate as requested 

today ( 25/9/25 ) I rang out of curiosity to see if this had been received and to ask what it was all about 

I was told between June 2021 and May 2025 payments totalling £226 were paid into my fathers bank account ( this is a joint account with my 82 year old mother ) 
I asked what dates but she couldn’t provide this information just kept saying between those dates 

AND - because I had contacted them and given my details ( name , address , telephone number) I was now liable and expected to pay this back to them 

I said absolutely not , I will as his son not be paying £226 back to them as we haven’t a clue what it’s about and why taken over 4 1/2 years for this to come round ? Had I not responded to the letter and send a death certificate maybe this wouldn’t even have gone further 

any advise on this company or situation as I will not be paying them £226 from  own money that’s for sure 

Any help appreciated 

QrizB

Whoever was dealing with the paperwork after your father passed should have informed the companies that were paying his pensions. It sounds as though this one was missed, and your mother has been receiving pension payments that should have stopped on his death.

I suspect it's your mother who will be liable for repaying them, as she's received the payments and has spent them.

p00hsticks

If it was a joint account, then get your mother to look back through the bank statements and see if you can trace the payments - with such a small amount it sounds as if it might have only been made once a year. 

The company are within their rights to ask for the money back if the payments continued after his death because they were not informed that he died. Who dealt with your fathers estate ? 

MyRealNameToo

shaven76 said:

im looking for any advice on the following -

My dad died May 2021 
last week ( 20/9/25) my elderly mother received a letter titled to the estate of my late father asking for a copy of his death certificate etc 
myself ( son ) and family knew nothing about the “ annuity policy “ mentioned in the letter so I sent a copy of the death certificate as requested 

today ( 25/9/25 ) I rang out of curiosity to see if this had been received and to ask what it was all about 

I was told between June 2021 and May 2025 payments totalling £226 were paid into my fathers bank account ( this is a joint account with my 82 year old mother ) 
I asked what dates but she couldn’t provide this information just kept saying between those dates 

AND - because I had contacted them and given my details ( name , address , telephone number) I was now liable and expected to pay this back to them 

I said absolutely not , I will as his son not be paying £226 back to them as we haven’t a clue what it’s about and why taken over 4 1/2 years for this to come round ? Had I not responded to the letter and send a death certificate maybe this wouldn’t even have gone further 

any advise on this company or situation as I will not be paying them £226 from  own money that’s for sure 

Any help appreciated 

If you didnt know he had an annuity did you contact them to advise them of his death? If not then obviously the annuity (aka pension) would have continued to make payments. 

Annuities rely on people informing them when one of their policyholders/pensioners die, once you get to a certain age or if you move overseas then the insurer will write periodically to request proof of life, in the same way as the DWP asks for a certificate of life for those claiming a state pension whilst abroad. 

Presumably you have checked your mother's bank account and can see the regular payments in. If you dont want to repay it then they will be likely to initiate debt collection activities against your mother though how far they will go for a relatively modest amount is another question. Obviously keeping something that you know isnt yours is an offence. 

Marcon

shaven76 said:

Hello

im looking for any advice on the following -

My dad died May 2021 
last week ( 20/9/25) my elderly mother received a letter titled to the estate of my late father asking for a copy of his death certificate etc 
myself ( son ) and family knew nothing about the “ annuity policy “ mentioned in the letter so I sent a copy of the death certificate as requested 

today ( 25/9/25 ) I rang out of curiosity to see if this had been received and to ask what it was all about 

I was told between June 2021 and May 2025 payments totalling £226 were paid into my fathers bank account ( this is a joint account with my 82 year old mother ) 
I asked what dates but she couldn’t provide this information just kept saying between those dates 

AND - because I had contacted them and given my details ( name , address , telephone number) I was now liable and expected to pay this back to them 

I said absolutely not , I will as his son not be paying £226 back to them as we haven’t a clue what it’s about and why taken over 4 1/2 years for this to come round ? Had I not responded to the letter and send a death certificate maybe this wouldn’t even have gone further 

any advise on this company or situation as I will not be paying them £226 from  own money that’s for sure 

Any help appreciated 

Given the modest sum involved, I suspect that it may well be written off - but it all sounds a bit vague if they can't actually give you the date(s) payments were made. Might be worth trying to find out if the annuity was 'own life' (ie it ended when your father died) or whether there was provision for a spouse's pension - but again, given the likely amount, simply leaving well alone may be the less worrying option for your elderly mother.

dunstonh

I was told between June 2021 and May 2025 payments totalling £226 were paid into my fathers bank account ( this is a joint account with my 82 year old mother ) 
I asked what dates but she couldn’t provide this information just kept saying between those dates 

Dates are largely irrelevent at this point as you have processing date, the date they paid it and the date it may have arrived in the bank account.    Asking for specific date of the month does really matter.   The payment month and year is what matters.

AND - because I had contacted them and given my details ( name , address , telephone number) I was now liable and expected to pay this back to them 

You are not liable unless you have been receiving the money.   In some cases, the executor of the estate for your father can be liable.  If that was you, then yes, potentially you could be liable in some scenarios.

I said absolutely not , I will as his son not be paying £226 back to them as we haven’t a clue what it’s about and why taken over 4 1/2 years for this to come round ? 

The annuity providers rely on being told when someone has died.  However, their periodically check death registers to see if there is someone fraudulently receiving funds that they are not entitled to.

Had I not responded to the letter and send a death certificate maybe this wouldn’t even have gone further 

Eventually, it would likely have to led to legal action if it continued to be ignored.   Although the amount involved is small they may have taken a view.

any advise on this company or situation as I will not be paying them £226 from  own money that’s for sure 

It sounds like the executor of the estate failed in their duties.to notify the pension annuity provider that your father had died. Consequently, the annuity income continued to be paid when your mother was not entitled to it.

That needs to be refunded as there is no entitlement to that money. In most likelihood, your mother has received it and you would be able to see it on her bank statements.

You would expect the information of the debt owed to be sent in writing and not handled over the phone.

shaven76

Firstly I dealt with my fathers finances after his passing and informed all I knew and showed on bank statements , state pension , his private pension etc etc 
I didn’t know and still don’t who this “ payment “ is from - all she said was payments totalling £226 between June 2021 and some other month / year 
My father didn’t have an “ estate “ as such as my parents didn’t owned their own home and had no savings 
I will wait and see what’s in the letter she said is being sent out to me 

MyRealNameToo

dunstonh said:

I said absolutely not , I will as his son not be paying £226 back to them as we haven’t a clue what it’s about and why taken over 4 1/2 years for this to come round ? 

The annuity providers rely on being told when someone has died.  However, their periodically check death registers to see if there is someone fraudulently receiving funds that they are not entitled to.

Have done work with a couple of annuity providers but only one touched on the operational side. With them they check regularly but you get a surprisingly high number of people with similar names and DoB plus people are poor at keeping their address up to date. Often you'll get Bob Smith notification of death but you are insuring Robert Smith with the same DoB but their usual address is listed as a care home in Birmingham whereas we have a residential address in Birmingham... it could be the same person or it might not be. 

For them they had a threshold of match and would initially send a proof of life letter, if that went unanswered for a couple of months then the payments are paused and a chaser sent. If it is a case of mistaken identity the payment stopping tended to be a much better mechanism to get them out the woodwork than the letters. 

dunstonh

I didn’t know and still don’t who this “ payment “ is from - all she said was payments totalling £226 between June 2021 and some other month / year 

ReAssure buy old unwanted pension books from other providers.   They have Barclays Life, Legal & General, Old Mutual and many more.      

it should be very easy to see by looking at the incomes your mother has received between those dates.  Given the small amount, it may be a half-yearly or yearly payment.

shaven76

This was back in 2021

I guess we will have to ask for bank statements 

im still not happy how I was told im liable to pay it back as im the one who sent death certificate in and rang up 

dunstonh

This was back in 2021

Or potentially as recent as May 2025.

im still not happy how I was told im liable to pay it back as im the one who sent death certificate in and rang up

Potentially, that is the case, though if you acted as the executor.  It probably won't be but potentially could be.