We are delighted to announce that beneficiary nomination is now available for Scottish Widows policies.
What is it?
Beneficiary nomination allows clients to specify who should receive their Life cover payout, available for new personal single-owner Life or Life with Critical Illness policies. Clients can set this up during the online application journey when terms are offered or manual underwriting begins.
Key benefits:
✔️ Designed for single owned policies - Accessible for new personal single own Life or Life with Critical Illness cover policies during the online application journey when terms are offered or manual underwriting starts, ensuring any eligible free cover is paid to the nominated beneficiaries.
✔️ Easy to set up - No complex forms. Simply nominate up to five beneficiaries by giving their names, relationship to your client, and the percentage allocation your client wants them to receive. Adding their date of birth and contact details can help speed up any payments.
✔️ Quick payments - By nominating beneficiaries, this helps make sure the funds go directly to the intended people without the need for Probate (or Confirmation in Scotland). This means your client’s chosen beneficiaries receive any payment sooner.
✔️ Legally binding - Beneficiary nomination must be in place before the policy goes on risk. It cannot be added or removed later. As it forms part of the policy contract, Scottish Widows will pay the named beneficiaries. It’s important your client keeps the nomination up to date to reflect their current wishes.
✔️ Support for unmarried couples - This option is especially beneficial for unmarried couples living together, helping to ensure the surviving partner receives the payment as intended.
✔️ Flexibility and control - your client remains the owner of the policy -As circumstances change they can make changes to the beneficiaries or other aspects of the policy without needing anyone else's consent.
Working alongside trust planning?
If you're planning to establish a trust later (which must be arranged directly with the insurer), beneficiary nomination provides interim protection until the trust is in place. The nomination is only superseded when the policy is placed into a trust that excludes the Settlor and their estate from the death benefit. It is worth noting you can access Scottish Widows Trust form directly from the Protection Platform as well.
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