Pension

Dear @Shaz69,

Thanks for your enquiry. I’m very sorry to hear of your husband’s recent passing, it sounds like a really difficult time for you.

If you feel you would like some help in accessing your husbands pensions, the Financial Guidance Team would be happy to support you; you can call us free on 0808 808 0000. If you’d like to do it yourself, a good starting point would be to try and locate any paperwork relating to your husband’s pension policies. These will make it clear who the pensions are with and should give you an idea as to how much the pension is worth.

If you are struggling to find any paperwork, or any information about his pensions, there is a Pension Tracing Service which can help people find some details. You will need the name of any of your husband’s previous employer’s to help you use the service.

The Pension Tracing Service gives details of the pension scheme such as telephone number and address. You would them contact the scheme and provide your husband’s National Insurance number. The scheme can then search their records for any pensions in your husband’s name.

You can access the Pension Tracing Service here: https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details

Or alternatively, contact them by phone: 0800 731 0193. The service is available Monday to Friday,10am to 3pm.

Another option is the Gretel website. This provides a free service to locate lost pensions but also any other policies, such as life insurance or savings plans.

To access the service, visit www.gretel.co.uk, set up an account and the search will start immediately. The organisation will stay in touch with you in the event of additional policies coming to light at a future date.

Regarding the cost of your husband’s cremation, some pension policies include death benefits which could help towards the costs.

It’s also important to check if there is any money in your husband’s bank account, as you may be able to access this to help with the costs as well.

Where there is no money to pay for the funeral, it might be possible to get help from the government towards some of the costs. This is normally only available to people on a low income, who are receiving certain benefits. To see if this is an option it would be worthwhile speaking to one of our benefit advisors on 0808 808 0000 and selecting option 1, then option 2 and then option 2 again.

Where there is no money in the deceased’s estate or any relatives or friends who are able to arrange a funeral for them, the local council or hospital can arrange a public health funeral for them. This type of funeral is often very basic.

There may also be help available from some other charities:

Turn2us  

Turn2us is a UK charity which aims to support people with their finances.  

They offer a grants search which can be used to search for various benevolent funds and charity groups that might be able to offer grants or other types of help. You can access the grant search here: 
 
https://grants-search.turn2us.org.uk/ 

Or call them directly on: 0808 802 2000, 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Down to Earth

Down to Earth is a charity who aim to provide practical support for anyone struggling to pay funeral costs. You can access their website here:

https://quakersocialaction.org.uk/we-can-help/helping-funerals/down-earth

They’re also available over the phone on Tel No. 020 8983 5055 or by email at downtoearth@qsa.org.uk

I hope this helps and that you are able to find some information about your husband’s pension policies. If you would like any more support from us, please feel free to call us on 0808 808 0000.

Best wishes,

Laura