Death of a classic, classic plus, premium, nuvos or alpha member whilst in service
6.4.1 As soon as you learn of a death in service, you must contact your payroll and us immediately and inform both of us of the death (for partnership members, please see ‘Steps to follow for partnership members’ in paragraph 6.4.5). We need to know information such as next of kin and the name of the personal representative (this is a person who produces a Grant of Probate, Will, Letters of Administration or, in Scotland, Confirmation of Executor).
You should complete a Request for Services form to notify us of the death in service. The form will prompt you to provide information such as the next of kin/personal representative, as well as details of the member’s death benefit nomination (if any) and other important information relating to the member’s pension.
We advise your HR contact, who deals with such sensitive issues, to contact us for further information on:
what information we usually require, and
our process for handling matters concerning the deceased’s pension benefits.
This will then help the Welfare Officer explain our role to the next of kin/personal representative.
6.4.2 You will need to get evidence of the death, such as the death certificate. If no death certificate is available, you must make your own checks. This is to make sure that the death has taken place. You may check, for example, by getting evidence from the coroner or police that they are satisfied that the person has died.
6.4.3 We pay the death benefit immediately where there is proof of death and a valid nomination form. Where there is no valid nomination, we will pay the death benefit to the personal representative or the deceased member’s estate on receipt of the required documents. This could include a Grant of Probate, Will, Letters of Administration or, in Scotland, Confirmation of Executor.
6.4.4 As well as the death benefit, we may pay family benefits to the legal widow or widower, civil partner, children and other dependants of the member.
Steps to follow for partnership members
6.4.5 You must inform your payroll of the death as soon as possible. Your payroll must then inform the pension provider via the interface as advised in the ‘Managing Submissions Interface Guide’ issued in EPN533*. You must also advise us of the death as soon as possible so that we can work out any benefits for the member’s dependants.
Death of a classic, classic plus, premium, nuvos or alpha member before pension age who has left your employment
6.4.6 If a classic, classic plus, premium, nuvos or alpha member has left your employment and dies before they reach pension age, we work out and pay the death benefits. The benefits are based on the member’s award at the time that they left your employment. We pay the death benefit lump sum to the nominee or the legal representative, as appropriate. We will also pay any pensions that may be due to surviving dependants.
6.4.7 If you receive any calls regarding a deferred member’s death benefits, you should refer the caller to us.
6.4.8 If the member was in either classic or classic plus and not married when they left your employment and remained unmarried until they died, a refund Widow(er)’s Pension Scheme (WPS) contributions may be payable. It does not form part of the death benefit. The representative of the deceased member must apply for it separately, in writing, to us. You must pass any written applications that you receive to us.
*All EPNs prior to EPN635 have been archived. You can find these on the national archive website. You will need to scroll down to the EPN section to find the archived notices.
