Pension provider's u-turn helps disabled sister receive brother's life-long savings

A brother arranged lower pension payments to secure his disabled sisters future but the provider initially refused to pay. After investigation the company admitted its mistake and started payments to her care home

November 29 2024 , 12:08 PM  •  262 views

Pension provider's u-turn helps disabled sister receive brother's life-long savings

In sept-24‚ POʼs brother passed away leaving behind important pension arrangements for their disabled sister. The brother had made a smart-yet-sacrificial choice — accepting lower pension pay-outs from Friends Life (now part of Aviva) to ensure his sister would receive life-long support

The situation got complicated when the company didnt honor the dual-life annuity worth £1‚458 per-year. The brother had properly filled-out forms listing his 61-year-old sister as a dependant relative (which matches gov-uk guidelines that include siblings as valid dependants)

The care-home residentʼs brother had set-up everything correctly; however the company made things difficult by rejecting the claim without proper explanation. This denial meant nearly £30k in lost future support for someone who really needs it — his sister who deals with significant disabilities and dementia

If you choose you can provide a pension for your husband‚ wife‚ civil partner or dependents when you die

Original policy document

After thorough re-examination Aviva fixed its mistake and started back-payments directly to the care facility. The company offered compensation which PO chose to donate for the care homes christmas celebrations; showing how sometimes bureaucratic mix-ups can have happy endings