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The decision to pay is only one part of the story. For many families, the real challenge is everything that follows.
This is where advisers can make the biggest difference.
I spend a lot of time thinking about what happens after the paperwork is signed and the policy goes on risk, because that’s usually where things either work well, or start to fall down.
When someone dies, the difficulty is often not the payout itself.
It’s everything around it that tends to cause the most strain, at exactly the point they have the least headspace to deal with it.
Whenever we start to look at enhancements to the client journey, I’ll always ask: ‘If something happens to a client, how would our platform ensure the administrative process is as seamless as possible for their loved ones?’
It sounds simple written down. In practice, it usually is not.
Most clients assume the hard part is the claim decision itself. In my experience, it’s often the week after, when grief meets paperwork and the family is trying to keep life moving.
At that point, people are not at their best.
They are tired, emotional, and often juggling practical pressures. They may not know where documents are. They may not know who to call.
And sometimes, they are not even sure what cover is in place. When the admin is unclear, everything becomes harder than it needs to.
This is why bereavement support is not just a claims topic. A lot of the issues that show up later can be traced back to how things were set up in the first place.
The more clarity that is built in earlier, the less chance there is of delay or confusion when it matters most.
The hidden friction advisers can help remove
Nearly three-quarters of UK life insurance policies have no trust or named beneficiary in place, which means payouts default to the estate (probate) and often face delays.1
In many cases, the delay is the process of confirming who should be paid, and making sure the right people can be contacted quickly.
That’s often happening at the same time as everything else a family must deal with, including banks, employers, pensions and probate.
Protection can give people some financial breathing space at that point, but only if it is easy to access.
A practical way to think about this is ‘beneficiary clarity’. Not as a technical or legal concept, but in very practical terms.
If the client is not there to answer questions, are we confident the right people can be identified, and the money can be paid without extra hoops?
A simple step that can reduce delay
One of the ways we have tried to make this easier in practice is through beneficiary nomination for eligible new advised, single-owned life cover, including life with critical illness.
It allows up to five beneficiaries to be named as part of the online application journey, without the need for separate forms or additional paperwork.
The process itself is straightforward. Each beneficiary’s name, relationship and share of the benefit is recorded, with the total adding up to 100%.
Details like date of birth, email and phone number are optional, but they can help speed things up later if they are available.
One important point is that the nomination must be set before the policy starts. Once the policy is on risk, beneficiaries cannot be added, although they can be updated over time.
In practice, that means it is something that is best done when the plan is first put in place, rather than trying to deal with it later.
We talk a lot about simplicity in protection. In reality, it only matters if it actually gets used, especially when someone is under pressure.
That is not always as straightforward as it sounds.
Beneficiary nomination tends to work best in more straightforward situations where the priority is to get the money to the intended people as quickly as possible, often without unnecessary delay linked to probate.
It can be particularly helpful for unmarried couples or more complex family setups, where assumptions about who should receive the money do not always hold up in practice.
Where trusts still matter
This is not an either-or discussion.
Trusts are still an important part of planning where there is a need for more control, protection for vulnerable beneficiaries, or more complex arrangements.
It is also worth being clear about one of the trade-offs. Beneficiary nomination is absolute.
Scottish Widows will pay the nominated beneficiaries and does not apply discretion if circumstances have changed.
That is why it is important for nominations to be reviewed and kept up to date, particularly after major life events.
A practical next step for advisers
If you have not seen it yet, Scottish Widows has a short adviser demo video showing exactly how beneficiary nomination works inside the application journey, alongside guidance on when it is suitable and when a trust may still be the better option.
But in many ways, the bigger shift is not the process. It is the conversation around it.
Asking who should receive the money, how easily they could be found, and whether payment could happen without delay can change how well a plan actually works in practice.
Clients tend to focus on the payout itself. The advisers who think about what happens around it are often the ones who can make the biggest difference.
Find out more about beneficiary nomination here
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1 Swiss Re & Insuring Change’s 2025 report, “Life Claims: What Matters Most”