If someone we are paying a regular income to has died, then it’s really important that you let us know quickly.
This will allow us to stop payments that may otherwise need to be reclaimed, and to commence paying money due to the estate or to a surviving spouse, civil partner or other beneficiary, as soon as possible.
We will require the final death certificate before we can pay any death benefits from the policy or annuity.
For Income Drawdown policies we may need information on the potential beneficiaries. We will do this by asking you to complete a Family Information Form.
If you prefer, you can find our contact details below and we will send you the form.
Please contact us on 0330 159 1530 - if there are further payments due then we may need to ask you to provide us with further information.
Most pensions pay a lump sum benefit on death. However this is not always the case; some older pension arrangements may not pay a death benefit. We will let you know what benefits are payable.
This will usually depends on the type of pension, and the two most common types are shown below:
Section 226 pension where the benefit forms part of the estate on death
Individual pension plans which started before 1 July 1988 are generally Section 226 pension plans. Some policyholders will know these as Retirement Annuitys.
The benefit amount forms part of the estate of the deceased unless the policy has been placed under Trust. The benefit is then distributed by the trustees in line with the Trust.
Personal Pension Plan where the benefit is payable under discretionary trust
Personal Pension plans generally started from 1 July 1988 onwards.
The benefit amount will be paid under a Personal Pension Plan discretionary trust, which under current legislation, allows the death benefit to be paid outside of the policyholder's estate for Inheritance Tax purposes.
In the 2024 Autumn Budget, changes were announced in regard to how unused pensions will be treated when paid as death benefits from registered pension schemes. It is proposed that from 6 April 2027, the majority will form part of the deceased’s estate for inheritance tax purposes. The government will be consulting on the process for applying these changes until 22 January 2025. They will then publish a response and carry out further consultation on draft legislation. Until the final legislation is published the full impact of the change will not be known.
As trustees Utmost Life and Pensions will need to consider any person or persons already nominated by the deceased (if such a nomination was made) to receive the payment on death, before we make payment. We may also require other details about the estate of the deceased. Utmost Life and Pensions as trustees will decide who to pay.
If the policyholder was aged 75 or over any lump sum or pension income payable will be subject to Income Tax. The tax that HMRC rules require us to deduct may be more or less than the beneficiary may owe. It will be their responsibility to contact HMRC to obtain a refund, or pay any additional tax due.
It’s also possible that there may be tax due on the payment if the deceased exceeded the HMRC Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance limit. You will find details of this limit on www. gov.uk. The estate will be responsible for identifying if this tax is due. If you are a beneficiary who has received a pension lump sum payment you should advise the executors of the deceased's estate.
