Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme

You will be covered for a life assurance benefit under the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme("the Group Life Assurance Scheme") if:

1. You are under age 75;
2. You are in service with Royal Mail Group.
3. You are not a member of another Royal Mail Group pension arrangement.

In these Q&As, Royal Mail Group means Royal Mail, Parcelforce Worldwide and Post Office Limited and any other employer admitted to the Group Life Assurance Scheme.

If you are a member of another Royal Mail Group pension plan and therefore not covered under the Group Life Assurance Scheme, please consult the relevant section of the Pensions website for more information on the benefits your dependants would be entitled to, under the relevant Royal Mail Group pension plan of which you are a member, if you died.

This other Royal Mail Group pension plan could be the Royal Mail Pension Plan, the Royal Mail Defined Contribution Plan, the Royal Mail Retirement Savings Plan or the Royal Mail Senior Executives' Pension Plan.

If you are not an active member of a Royal Mail Group pension plan but are covered for life assurance under the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme, you will be entitled to a total lump sum death in service benefit of two times your annual basic pay. This will be comprised of any lump sum you may be entitled to from a Royal Mail Group pension plan, plus an amount from the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme to ensure your death in service benefit is two times your annual basic pay.

Please note: If the total lump sum death in service benefits from your other Royal Mail Group pension plans (if applicable) are greater than two times your annual basic pay, there will be no additional payment made from the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme.

In some circumstances you may be required to have a medical before you will be covered. You will be told if this is necessary.

The benefit provided by the Group Life Assurance Scheme is insured through a life insurance policy, so will only be payable to the extent that the Trustees, who are responsible for the administration of the Group Life Assurance Scheme, have been able to obtain insurance cover for you. If the insurer restricts the amount payable on your death, your beneficiaries may receive less than the amount stated above.

On leaving service, or reaching age 75 if earlier, your cover would cease and if you wanted alternative cover, you would have to secure it privately and pay the cost yourself.

The Group Life Assurance Scheme started on 1 April 2008. The benefit is provided through a trust called the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme. Benefits are payable in accordance with the rules of that Scheme.

When the Royal Mail Pension Plan (RMPP) closed to new members from 31 March 2008, new life cover and pension arrangements were put in place for employees joining Royal Mail Group after that date. This is to ensure that Royal Mail Group continues to provide a competitive employment package.

No. If though you are also in a Royal Mail Group pension plan, please consult the relevant section of the Pensions website for more information on the benefits your dependants would be entitled to under that Royal Mail Group pension plan if you died.

There is no cost to you. The costs of the providing life cover under the Group Life Assurance Scheme are paid entirely by Royal Mail Group.

The Trustees of the Group Life Assurance Scheme decide to whom to pay benefits on your death but will take your wishes into account.

You should complete an Expression of Wish Form, available from the Pensions Helpline or from the following link:  Expression of Wish Form for the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme (PDF 180KB).

Please note that the link above should only be used by members of the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme.

If you are a member of the Royal Mail Pension Plan, please contact the Plan Administrator on 0114 241 4545 to request an Expression of Wish Form. If you are a member of the Royal Mail Defined Contribution Plan, please contact the Plan Administrator on 0800 092 8263 to request an Expression of Wish Form.

If you are a Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme member, and you ring the Pensions Helpline, please ensure that you obtain an Expression of Wish Form for the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme, and not one for any other Royal Mail Group pension plan.

If you die while in service, the Trustees of the Group Life Assurance Scheme will have to decide who is to receive the benefits without knowing your wishes. The Trustees will have to investigate your circumstances in order to decide how to exercise their discretion. The Trustees may take into consideration any Will you have made or evidence from your family and friends. The Trustees are more likely to exercise their discretion in a way you would prefer them to, if you have returned the Expression of Wish Form.

You can nominate any person or organisation including your spouse, civil partner, partner, boyfriend or girlfriend, children, brother or sister, parents, other relatives, friends or a charity or other organisation.

You can name several persons or organisations to share the lump sum death in service benefit and there are spaces on the form for you to state what proportion you would like each person or organisation to receive.

If your circumstances change (you get married for example) and you would like different persons or organisations to receive the lump sum benefit, you will need to complete and return a new Expression of Wish Form. You can obtain a new form by telephoning the pensions helpline on 0114 241 4545 or from the following link:   Expression of Wish Form for the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme. (PDF 180KB)

Your beneficiaries will not normally have to pay inheritance tax on the money they receive because it is paid from a discretionary trust. This means it will not be included in your estate for inheritance tax purposes.

There will be no additional income tax for your personal representatives to pay so long as all the value of all benefits from all registered schemes (including benefits payable on death) does not exceed the Lifetime Allowance (£1,650,000 for the 2008/09 tax year and £1,750,000 for the 2009/2010 tax year).

This is the current position as at January 2009 but you should note that tax rules may of course change in future.

The Group Life Assurance Scheme does not provide any ill health benefits over and above the ill health benefits currently provided by Royal Mail Group.

If you were eligible for cover immediately before you go on sick leave, you will still be covered for the death in service lump sum under the Group Life Assurance Scheme so long as you are still employed by Royal Mail Group.

If you are not an active member of a Royal Mail Group pension plan, and you are employed by Royal Mail Group (excluding casual employees) you will be classed as a member of the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme. As such, you will be entitled to a total lump sum death in service benefit of two times your annual basic pay. This will be comprised of any lump sum you may be entitled to from a Royal Mail Group pension plan upon death, plus an amount from the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme to ensure your total death in service benefit is two times your annual basic pay.

Please note: If the total lump sum death in service benefits from your other Royal Mail Group pension plans (if applicable) are greater than two times your annual basic pay, there will be no additional payment made from the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme.

Royal Mail Group reserves the right to amend or withdraw this benefit in future, for example, if the costs of paying the insurance for providing this benefit become too high.

If you have preserved benefits from another Royal Mail Group pension arrangement, your lump sum death benefit may be offset against the other death benefits payable.

Please contact:

By email: pensions.helpline@royalmail.com

By phone: 0114 241 4545

By post: Pensions & Leavers
Royal Mail HR Services
AS20, Rowland Hill House
CHESTERFIELD
S49 1HQ

The information on this part of the website provides a summary of the Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme available to you. Royal Mail Group has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information provided through this website is accurate at the time of inclusion. However, it accepts no liability for any inaccuracies or omissions and reserves the right to make changes and corrections to this site at any time without notice.

The Royal Mail Group Life Assurance Scheme is governed by legal documents. In the event of a conflict between these legal documents and this website, the former will prevail. These legal documents may include restrictions relevant to you. This website reflects legislation as at 1 January 2009.

Royal Mail Group is not responsible for the content of any other organisation's website whose links are contained within this website. The inclusion of any such link does not imply an endorsement by Royal Mail Group.