What if I die?
premium
- What happens if I die in service?
- What if I die after I leave the scheme?
- How do I name someone to receive any lump sum when I die?
- Does my husband or wife get a pension?
- I’m not married, but I have a partner?
- Will my children get a pension?
What happens if I die in service?
We will pay a sum of three times your pay to the person (or people) you have named. This lump sum will normally be tax-free. If you want to increase this lump sum up to four times your pay, you can do this by paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) to Equitable Life, one of our AVC providers. Ask your pensions administrator for more details.
What if I die after I leave the scheme?
If you die within five years of starting to draw your pension, we will pay the person or people you have named a lump sum representing the balance of five years’ pension. If you leave the scheme and then die before drawing your pension, we will usually pay the person or people a lump sum of:
- five times your preserved (frozen) pension; or
- twice your final pensionable earnings when you left the scheme; whichever is smaller.
How do I name someone to receive any lump sum when I die?
You can name the person or people on the PensionChoices form in Your pension, your choice. If you want to change your decision in the future, ask your pensions administrator for a form. If you decide to name more than one person, you can say how much you would like each person to receive. If you don’t say how you want it shared between them we will pay each person you have named an equal share. If you name your husband, wife or civil partner, and your marriage or civil partnership then ends, your husband, wife or civil partner will no longer be entitled to any lump sum.
Does my husband, wife or civil partner get a pension?
As long as you have been in the scheme for at least two years, we will give your surviving husband, wife or civil partner a pension. We will work this out as 3/8 of your pension (this is the same as 1/160 of your final pensionable earnings for each year of reckonable service). If you die in service, we will grant some extra years of reckonable service, up to 10 years. If you die after you have left the scheme, your husband or wife will usually get a pension of 3/8 your pension (before any reduction for using part of your pension to buy a lump sum). However, we may reduce this if you left with an ill-health pension with your reckonable service enhanced through to pension age. We will then base the pension for your husband, wife or civil partner on the extra years that we would have given if you had died in service on the day you retired. This is likely to (but may not) be less.
Once your husband, wife or civil partner is receiving a pension, it will continue for the rest of their life, and we will increase it every year in line with the increase in the Retail Prices Index.
Important note. At the time of a divorce, a court may order that when a scheme member, or a previous member, dies, all or part of the death benefit must be paid to the ex-husband or ex-wife or ex-civil partner. If this is the case, we will pay any balance to the person you nominated or to the personal representative of the person who died if there is no valid nomination.
I’m not married or in a civil partnership, but I have a partner
If neither you nor your partner is married to, or in a civil partnsrehip with, anyone else, we may pay your partner a pension. We work this out in the same way as the pension for a husband, wife or civil partner. You must make sure that you and your partner fill in a declaration, as we cannot pay a pension without this. For more details on this see the section Partners.
Will my children get a pension?
We will pay a pension to your children (and to any other children who rely on you financially) when you die. We pay children’s pensions to children up to the age of 18 (or up to 26 if they are in full-time education). We work out a child’s pension as 30% of your pension entitlement if we pay a pension to your surviving husband, wife, civil partner or partner, or 50% if you did not leave an adult dependant. If you leave more than two children who qualify for a pension, we will reduce each child’s pension so they each get an equal share.
