Death in service benefit in 2022: who gets it

What is death in service benefit? How much could I receive? You may be eligible to get payments if you recently experienced bereavement. However, the person claiming this benefit for their beneficiaries needs to be employed. Your Benefits will tell you everything you need to know about death in service benefit.

Who gets death in service benefit?

The death in service benefit pays a lump sum to those who are dependent on someone who died while being employed. It is not necessary that the person adhered to death in service died at work.

The reason for their death does not even have to be because of their work. They only need to have been employed. As such, if you are someone who is dependent on a deceased person on the scheme, you are likely to receive a lump sum.

You might want to claim this benefit. If this is the case, ask your employer if they have a form for the scheme that you can adhere to. Moreover, this benefit is often linked with company pension schemes. As such, you will need to be on the appropriate scheme in order to apply for death in service benefit.

Disclaimer

You will typically have to nominate a beneficiary (or multiple beneficiaries) for them to benefit from death in service. Then, in the event of your death, you will know that the money will go to them.

You may be a person who was dependent on your late loved one. Then, find out if you can benefit from death in service. You may do so by figuring out if the deceased individual was on the scheme with their employer. If this is the case, then you might be able to earn a tax-free lump sum.

You will not be taxed on death in service payments. Why is that? This is because inheritance tax may not be applied to it. Why that is is because the money is set up in the context of a fund by the employer.

What is death in service benefit?

You might be able to get this death-in-service benefit. It is a type of insurance issued by employers. You may decide to adhere to this scheme. If you do so, those who are dependent on you will receive a lump sum of money upon your death.

Disclaimer

You do not need to die on the job in order for the death in service benefit to be paid out. The deceased individual only needs to have been employed by their company.

You may be unsure of what benefits you may be eligible to receive. If this is the case, you can use our free simulator to find out the total amount of aid you are entitled to.

If you cannot find any aid or our simulator is unavailable, you may contact our advisers to learn how you may save on your bills. This includes phone, water, electricity… Our advisers will take care of everything for you.

Finally, you may want to receive help with your administrative tasks. Going through all the steps to receive death in service payments may not be an extremely easy process. As such, Your Benefits can help. We offer to do everything for you, so you have more time to spend on various other activities.

How much is death in service benefit?

Death in service benefit typically pays 2, 3 or 4 times the deceased individual’s salary. You can calculate how much you could earn with death in service. In fact, take your deceased loved one’s yearly salary. Then, multiply that by the number of years that the company can cover.

Typically, this will be 2, 3 or 4 years. Once you have this information, multiply both of them together. You will then have the lump sum that those nominated or dependent on the late individual would receive.

For example, your loved one’s salary may have been £45,000. Then, you find out that their company covers 4 years. As such, your lump sum would be £180,000.

As a reminder, your lump sums will not be taxed. This is because the money is held in the context of a trust. As such, inheritance tax cannot be applied to it.

Important

Note that death in service typically does not pay as much as life insurance policies. Although you may already be on this scheme with your employer, it is recommended to also apply to additional financially protective measures.

When will I get death in service payments?

Death in service benefit, although often efficiently paid, could take a certain time to be awarded to the appropriate people or person. The time that it takes to pay beneficiaries after the death of the individual depends on a multitude of factors. They include:

The circumstances around the death;
How many beneficiaries there are;
Exactly what kind of policy it is.

Note that death in service benefit is a service inherently connected tightly with the company that issues it. As such, their input is absolutely essential in order to finalize the process. The money will not be paid out without their help.

Apply for death in service benefit

The death in service benefit is a type of life protection benefit. As such, it pays a certain sum of money to your beneficiaries when you die while employed by a company. It will typically pay between 2 to 4 times your annual salaries to your beneficiaries.

If you want to apply for the scheme, talk to your employer. They should give you the following information:

How you may enter the scheme;
The way in which the death in service payments will be awarded;
The number of years that the company covers.

A trust may be set up to take care of your scheme. In this case, the people in charge of the policy, also called trustees, will decide on a number of things. Indeed, they are in charge of choosing where the money goes in case of the payments needing to be awarded.

Disclaimer

Naming beneficiaries is essential. However, ultimately, the trustees are the ones who get to decide who receives the death in service benefit.

You should probably write a ‘nomination letter‘. This is done when you apply for the scheme, and decide who should receive payments. Moreover, this could be crucial if you want a payment to go to your partner, but you are neither married nor in a civil partnership. Otherwise, they are not automatically eligible to receive the payments upon your death.

Could I earn other benefits?

If you believe you are eligible for death in service benefit, chances are that you are also eligible for a lot more. First, many people wonder if they should apply for life insurance or death in service. Second, they want to know what additional benefits they could get.

The death of your loved one may not have occurred because of their work. However, if it did, you may be eligible for Bereavement Support Payment.

Is death in service benefit the same as life insurance?

There are multiple differences between death in service benefit and life insurance, although they function in similar ways.

For example, death in service benefit is not automatically awarded by every company. Your beneficiaries can only be paid if you were paid by the company at the time of your death. Not only that, but the money is kept in a trust.

Furthermore, the people who ultimately decide who gets payments are the trustees. Finally, the sum that beneficiaries receive is anywhere from 2 to 4 times the late individual’s salary.

On the other hand, life insurance is not typically tied with an employer, but with a provider. As such, you are not limited by who your employer might be, and you may change your insurer later on.

Additionally, you may be able to earn your beneficiaries larger amounts of money, to even cover things like mortgage payments. You are in charge of the amount of money that is paid. However, you will need to pay a monthly amount for it if you chose to adhere to it.

Could I get Bereavement Support Payment?

If you believe that you will qualify for death in support benefit, there is a chance that you also qualify for Bereavement Support Payment. It is a benefit that is now beginning to replace Widowed Parent’s Allowance, Bereavement Allowance (known to some as Widow’s Pension) and Bereavement Payment.

You could be able to earn this benefit. However, a couple of things needs to be true for this to be the case. If you are expecting to receive death in service payments, it could be because your loved one died recently.

In the case that they have died in the past 21 months, you could receive this benefit. If your late loved one died more than 21 months ago, you are likely to be able to earn Bereavement Support Payment instead.

How much is Bereavement Support Payment?

Compared to death in service benefit, Bereavement Support Payment may not pay as much money. However, it might be able to help you nonetheless. You will receive one first large sum, followed by smaller monthly payments.

If you wish to receive the full amount of this benefit, you must report your loved one’s death no more than 3 months after it happens. The maximum amount of time you may wait to claim is 21 months. However, the more you wait, the less monthly payments you will receive.

There are two rates: the lower and higher rate. As the names indicate, the higher rate will pay you more money than the lower rate.