Royal London has expanded its signature-free beneficiary nomination, an alternative to setting up a plan trust, to its whole of life plans.
The feature was introduced on personal menu plans for individual life and critical illness cover less than two years ago and enables customers to nominate who will receive the payout if there is a claim paid after they die.
The mutual added it will automatically pay any benefit after the customer dies to their nominated beneficiary.
The customer can nominate a beneficiary as part of their application, change their nomination at any time and there’s no need for probate or the completion of a trust form.
For more complicated beneficiary requirements, the mutual said customers should still consider completing a trust form.
Jennifer Gilchrist, protection specialist at Royal London, (pictured) said: “The introduction of beneficiary nominations on personal protection has and will continue to help improve the claims experience for many of our customers, during what can be an incredibly difficult and emotional time.
“Having a nominated beneficiary in place means we’re able to pay out to a customer’s family as quickly as possible when their loved one passes away.
“It’s great to see advisers taking up this feature so positively. It’s a simpler alternative to writing plans in trust and makes sure our customers’ money goes where it should with no delays – so the decision to extend it to whole of life plans made perfect sense.
“With the introduction of the new Consumer Duty next year, this is an example of Royal London supporting advisers in delivering the best financial outcomes for their customers.”