Group Life

What your clients can expect from Aviva Group Life Cover:

• Our online claims process is quick and easy – in most cases, we won’t even need the original death certificate
• We pay eligible claims promptly and they generally fall outside of probate, giving beneficiaries financial support when they need it most
• In addition to financial support, we offer guidance, access to supportive helplines, and bereavement counselling
• Our Group Life policy is easy to set-up – we work closely with you and your clients to reduce administration, especially during the underwriting process

It’s important to fully understand this product’s details as this will help you conduct a compliant sale. Full details of features and benefits are listed in the Group Life product brochure.

Non-standard terms may apply to your client’s policy.

When an employee dies, Group Life cover provides some financial support by making claim payments to the trustees, or directly to the beneficiaries. We also offer practical help to the employee's dependants, through services such as our Bereavement helpline.

Here’s some important information you’ll need to know:

Tax efficient premiums – premiums are usually treated as an allowable business expense

Tax-free payment – for Registered schemes, lump sums payable are normally tax-free up to the member’s Lifetime Allowance (LTA). For Excepted schemes, these are also usually tax-free and do not count towards a member’s LTA

Flexible cover – different levels of cover can be chosen with our policy, grouping employees by multiples of salary or lump-sum limits

Free cover limit – we'll cover the majority of your clients' employees, up to a certain level of benefit, without needing to see their medical information

Once only underwriting – employees who require cover above the free cover limit will only be medically underwritten once, up to a benefit of £5m

Dependant pension options – our policy offers the option to provide a pension for the deceased’s partner, dependants or children

Support and counselling – trained bereavement counsellors are on hand to help beneficiaries – and employees who may have been affected by the loss of a colleague 

Spouse and partner cover – employees can protect their spouse or partner through our Group Life policy

The tele-interview – in some instances, employees will need to be contacted by one of our tele-interviewers – they'll capture essential medical information that can help provide faster underwriting decisions  

Information about tax is based on our understanding of current legislation. The law relating to tax may change in the future.

We offer Master Trust arrangements for Registered and Excepted Group Life policies, for both online and offline business.

The Master Trust arrangements offer an affordable and simple process for employers to provide their employees with life insurance. This process requires less time and resource to set up and manage Group Life policies, which means it can be a more cost-effective solution for your clients. The arrangements enable us to cover all insured members of an employer under either of the two trusts.

The Master Trust arrangements are governed by the main independent trustee, PTL Governance Ltd (PTL).

The benefits of the Master Trust arrangements are:

• Simple to set up with a single point of contact that minimises administration
• No need for an employer to complete a standalone trust
• Quicker on-risk process with no need to obtain a PSTR number from HMRC for a Registered Group Life Policy
• Full support when implementing a scheme
• Effective solution to what could otherwise be a time-consuming and costly process
• No additional cost

We understand that it’s important to support the families and colleagues of the deceased. We provide a range of confidential services from providers.

 

Bereavement helpline

The helpline is provided by Care first, and offers emotional support for loved ones and colleagues from trained bereavement counsellors, as well as practical advice on issues such as coping with funeral arrangements and obtaining probate. Depending on the circumstances an employee may be referred to specialist organisations for appropriate support.

 

Stress counselling helpline

Also provided by Care first, the helpline gives your client’s workforce access to 24/7 support from counsellors accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. It can provide practical and emotional support to help employees manage the challenges they're facing. This helpline can be accessed by employees aged 16 or over, with no limit to the number of times they can call.

 

Grief Encounter helpline

This registered charity provides much needed information, guidance and support to bereaved children and those who care for them.

All these services are confidential, and the service provider will not share with us any personal information provided to them.

 

These are non-contractual services Aviva can withdraw at any time.

Full details of the services available can be found in our Added Value Services guide.

Making a claim

In most cases, we don’t need to see the death certificate if we can verify the death online. We can normally do this for UK deaths, when registered for at least two weeks. Claims can be submitted before this to allow us to begin our assessment. Online verification gives time back to those affected so they can concentrate on other matters, such as funeral arrangements.

 

A simple online claims process

Please note, our online claims process applies to non-Master Trust options only.

There are a few simple steps to follow:

 

1. Complete member details

You or authorised individuals at the company can complete a claim form.

We'll need:

• Details of the policy, the scheme name and number
• The member's personal details and the date, location and cause of death
• The member’s employment details, including the length of time in service and salary

 

2. Confirm the payee details

We can make payment to a Trustees account or a third party account, which can include a company account, solicitors or direct to the beneficiary.

 

3. Review and submit

If we need a signed and printed copy of the claim form, we’ll provide a link to print the form to the person who submits the claim. We can accept a scanned and emailed copy of the signed form.

If there are any questions, or your client wants to change any of the details submitted, they can contact our Claims team on 01603 680715 or email grouplifeclaims@aviva.com

 

Death in service pension claims

If a death in service pension is being claimed, we’ll need the dependant’s details, the amount of pension payable and to whom this should be paid. We’ll also need the member’s marriage or civil partnership certificate, and birth certificates for any dependants who are to receive pension benefits.

 

Master Trust claims

If the claim is under a Master Trust scheme, your client will need to submit a paper Master Trust claim form.

 

Submitting a paper claim

To submit a paper claim, please download a Claim form from our document library.

It's important to note that we won't pay claims or requests for additional amounts of benefit that are submitted more than two years after a member's death.

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