Beneficiaries of life
insurance policies in the UK can look forward to receiving payouts
considerably faster, reports the Association of British Insurers
(ABI). This follows the association’s issuing of new guidelines
aimed at cutting payment waiting periods from four months to just
four weeks.
ABI director general Otto
Thoresen said: “Dealing with bereavement is hard enough, without
the added stress of worrying about money.
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“We believe this will go some
way to alleviating financial hardship for a deceased person’s
dependents, especially families on lower incomes who have few other
assets available to rely on.”
Under the new faster payments
process, the life insurer will ask the main beneficiary to complete
a declaration where they agree to pay back any money they receive
from the policy if the legal process decides they were not the
rightful recipient.
According to ABI, UK life
insurers pay out on some 32,000 life insurance claims
annually.
