Pension Scammers Target People Who Want To Avoid IHT

Silvertabby

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81996148#Comment_81996148

Not long before I retired I took a phone call from an elderly lady who wanted to change her bank details. Explained I needed that in writing, so I would send her a form to complete.

Couldn't find a record based on her NI or DOB, so asked her where she had worked. Transpired that she was talking about her husband's LGPS pension, and his records showed that he was alive and in receipt of a much higher than average pension. Told the lady that her husband must sign the change of bank details form - at which point she burst out laughing and said he'd have a job doing that as he'd been dead for over 5 years.....

I very carefully said that we weren't aware of that, and that I would have to stop her husband's pension and send her the claim form for widow's benefits. She didn't see why, as her husband had told her that she would just receive his pension on his death, so hadn't seen the point in telling us..... Misunderstanding rather than fraud?

She was well into her 80s, and the overpayment must have been over £50K. Even reducing her payments to the spouses benefit rate would have been a substantial drop in her income, but I don't know how the trustees treated the overissue.

MarzipanCrumble

Death data is digital - including reasons for death; ONS hold it but agree about 'quality' especially around names.

LHW99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81997098#Comment_81997098

Doesn't surprise me - the hospital completed the piece of paper I had to take to the registrar with an incorrect spelling of my late mothers' surname. When I aske them to change it, the admin person said "It doesn't really matter, you can just tell the Registrar the right spelling".

How many bereaved people wouldn't notice that sort of minor detail, and what sort of confusion would it eventually create?

Moonwolf

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81997098#Comment_81997098

One of my jobs in the past has been writing a pipeline to clean, compare and match deaths to hospital data to keep hospital patient registers up to date. It is difficult - Fred Smith (Not intended to be a real name) could have been David Fred Smith and always used his second name, or Frederick Smith or Alfred Smith. The hospital record was often the used name and not canonical name, although that has improved with improved NHS Number use and better systems. Death registrations don’t always match the name registered at birth. I bet there are a few people on this forum whose friends and even close family wouldn’t recognise the name on their National Insurance or NHS record.

GDB2222

When I registered my father in law’s death, I gave him a middle name which apparently was not his.

artyboy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998260#Comment_81998260

Nonsense!! AI will fix all of our data issues!

(Said every corporate CEO, whilst sipping Kool Aid)

QrizB

AI will fix all of our data issues!

"Using deterministic software we can only match 30% of records due to inconsistent data. The other 70% require lengthy and expensive manual intervention. But now that we've adopted an agentic model, we're achieving a 150% match rate!"

MarzipanCrumble

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998896#Comment_81998896

Lol

Cancer Registries need (rely upon) good death data. All the posts citing name discrepancies are true.

Am I wrong but doesn't everyone need an NHS number? Not sure about NI number. Surely it is time to legislate that NHS number is a requirement for a death Certificate unless there is a (valid in law) reason not to have one i.e. foreign nationals, asylum seekers. Maybe a 'special number' could be allocated to those?

Death data - accurate death data - is crucial. (What is the secretarial time, postage for sending to dead people?)

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82001841#Comment_82001841

Most foreign nationals working or living here legally ( and asylum seekers) will have a NHS no.