Pension Protection Fund

[Yorky]

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As I approach the shuffling off of this mortal coil, I contacted my pension provider (PPF) requesting them outline the procedure that my wife (not a native English speaker) should follow when I'm dead in order to obtain a small proportion of my measly pension.

This was their response.

"Thank you for your email dated 8 June 2022.

At the time of your death we would need to be notified by email or by telephone on +44 208 633 4902. The initial notification to us can be made by anyone and does not need to come from your wife.

Once we receive notification, we will send out a beneficiaries claim from. This will ask for details of the executor of your estate, your wife’s details, and any eligible children.

The details needed for a beneficiary are:

• Their full name
• Full address
• Date of birth
• National Insurance number (if they have one)
• Bank account in their name

Further information can be found on our member booklet found here Compensation Payments for Survivors.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us."

Information for others who may find themselves in the same Mary Celeste.

 

[Prakhonchai Nick]

.
As I approach the shuffling off of this mortal coil, I contacted my pension provider (PPF) requesting them outline the procedure that my wife (not a native English speaker) should follow when I'm dead in order to obtain a small proportion of my measly pension.

This was their response.

"Thank you for your email dated 8 June 2022.

At the time of your death we would need to be notified by email or by telephone on +44 208 633 4902. The initial notification to us can be made by anyone and does not need to come from your wife.

Once we receive notification, we will send out a beneficiaries claim from. This will ask for details of the executor of your estate, your wife’s details, and any eligible children.

The details needed for a beneficiary are:

• Their full name
• Full address
• Date of birth
• National Insurance number (if they have one)
• Bank account in their name

Further information can be found on our member booklet found here Compensation Payments for Survivors.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us."

Information for others who may find themselves in the same Mary Celeste.

That all seems to be very normal when dealing with any pensions. However I am sure they will require certified copies of the death certificate and translation thereof, + Your marriage certificate + translation, proving that your wife is the beneficiary should you die intestate, and probably a copy of her birth certificate or some other acceptable document showing her date of birth. The reason for the last item is that many pension funds reduce the widows pension where the age difference is greater than 10 or 12 years (Usually 2.5% for each year more than 10 or 12)

 

[Yorky]

That all seems to be very normal when dealing with any pensions. However I am sure they will require certified copies of the death certificate and translation thereof, + Your marriage certificate + translation, proving that your wife is the beneficiary should you die intestate, and probably a copy of her birth certificate or some other acceptable document showing her date of birth. The reason for the last item is that many pension funds reduce the widows pension where the age difference is greater than 10 or 12 years (Usually 2.5% for each year more than 10 or 12)

As far as I know there is no problem obtaining two originals of the death certificate* (we did with Aussie George). My wife is already on record with PPF (they have confirmed this previously) in my expression of wish (carried forward from my previous (defunct) pension provider). I cannot remember if they have the marriage and birth certificate of my wife but I shall check this. Better to have it all recorded up front.

[*If they don't believe that I'm actually dead will they continue to pay my full pension?]

 

[Prakhonchai Nick]

As far as I know there is no problem obtaining two originals of the death certificate* (we did with Aussie George). My wife is already on record with PPF (they have confirmed this previously) in my expression of wish (carried forward from my previous (defunct) pension provider). I cannot remember if they have the marriage and birth certificate of my wife but I shall check this. Better to have it all recorded up front.

[*If they don't believe that I'm actually dead will they continue to pay my full pension?]

The DWP do not always believe the recipient of state pension is dead, until such time as they receive the death certificate. Until then they do in fact pay state pension. BUT, many months later on they do their utmost to reclaim the excess payment

 

[Yorky]

The DWP do not always believe the recipient of state pension is dead, until such time as they receive the death certificate. Until then they do in fact pay state pension. BUT, many months later on they do their utmost to reclaim the excess payment

The DWP doesn't concern me as the state pension will cease upon my death anyway - bugger them - they don't even respond to my emails.

It's the PPF that my wife will need to convince (albeit a "subsidiary" of DWP (apparently)).

 

[CO-CO]

The DWP doesn't concern me as the state pension will cease upon my death anyway - bugger them - they don't even respond to my emails.

It's the PPF that my wife will need to convince (albeit a "subsidiary" of DWP (apparently)).

Your PPF will also cease upon notification of death.

The widow's pension claim is a totally separate event and (I think) always subject to the discretion of the pension trustees.

 

[Yorky]

Your PPF will also cease upon notification of death.

It does not cease. A proportion of it (in our case 25%) will continue to be paid to my wife in accordance with the rules of my former pension scheme (Alfred McAlpine and thereafter Carillion).

 

[CO-CO]

It does not cease. A proportion of it (in our case 25%) will continue to be paid to my wife in accordance with the rules of my former pension scheme (Alfred McAlpine and thereafter Carillion).

It ceases.

Any widow's pension is subject to a separate claim:-



"Once we receive notification, we will send out a beneficiaries claim form".

 

[Yorky]

It ceases.

Any widow's pension is subject to a separate claim:-



"Once we receive notification, we will send out a beneficiaries claim form".

The "claim" form is to confirm the right of the recipient to receive the proportion of the pension (my pension) to which she is entitled. It is not a separate pension. It is a proportion of the pension that I have striven to contribute to over many years of toil and sweat. It is not, and never will be, her pension.

[Edit: the wording of the PPF whether before or after death is not "pension" but "compensation".]