Early Distribution Insurance – How this may help your clients during the UK lockdown
Inheritance Act (Early Distribution) insurance is available from DUAL Asset for beneficiaries and charities, who may be seeking an early distribution to see them through this difficult financial time. Solicitors and professional executors will quite often insist on waiting between 6 and 10 months from the date of grant, to fully distribute an estate, to allow time for claimants to come forward.
“Inheritance Act insurance, or its more commonly used name, Early Distribution insurance, has increased in popularity over the last few years,” says Kate Thorp, Manager of DUAL Asset Underwriting’s Inheritance and Protection department. “We provide this cover as standard under our comprehensive insurance policy, but we also issue many stand-alone policies. Most are a precautionary cover, where as an example, the beneficiary of the estate urgently requires the early release of their inheritance. Credit is not as widely or as cheaply available as it once was, especially in the COVID-19 world that we are now all living in. Income has also been slashed for a lot of people and also charities are struggling. The insurance is there to protect both the executors/administrators and beneficiaries of the estate, allowing the early distribution to take place. The policy provides cover, if such an Inheritance Act claim was to arise during this claim period. The policy runs in perpetuity, so it will even cover an out of time claim, which sometimes can happen.”
DUAL Asset will also look at providing cover when there is a potential for a claim to occur. Where perhaps a spouse or partner has been left out of the will, but has not come forward as of yet. “These types of cases are subject to underwriting and carefully considered,” says Kate Thorp. “We often look at the family history and background to any estrangement and we take information from various sources to help us the assess the likelihood of not only a claim occurring, but how likely that claim is to be successful, if it did occur.”
If you wish to discuss Early Distribution insurance, please contact Kate Thorp – Manager Executor & Inheritance Protection.
[email protected]
020 7337 8775 / 07519129136