Insuristic is the first insurance broker in the UK to offer Missing Beneficiary Insurance quotes online to both personal representatives (lay administrators) and solicitors.
Missing Beneficiary Insurance protects personal representatives (i.e. administrators in intestacy cases, which is where the cover is commonly required) and beneficiaries against claims from beneficiaries who were unknown when the estate was distributed. It is also possible to insure against claims from a known beneficiary who couldn’t be found.
It is an important cover for intestate estates as the rules of intestacy are complex and could mean there are many beneficiaries to consider.
The policy provides cover up to the level of indemnity for:
This page explains what you need to know. Use the contents menu to jump to the section you need.
A claim from a missing beneficiary can arise at any point in the future, and it can be significant, particularly where the claimant is entitled to a substantial share of the estate.
As the personal representative (i.e. the administrator in an intestate estate), you are responsible for identifying everyone entitled to inherit under the rules of intestacy and distributing their share correctly.
If a beneficiary who wasn't accounted for comes forward after the estate has been distributed, the personal representatives are legally liable to defend the claim and settle with a successful claimant.
If the personal representatives don't have sufficient funds after using all their cash and disposing of assets, the beneficiaries can be drawn into the claim and asked to repay some or all of their inheritance to settle the missing beneficiary's share.
Missing Beneficiary Insurance is therefore an important policy to protect the financial future of the personal representatives and protect the beneficiaries' inheritance, which is why it is also a reasonable estate expense.
Get a quote from Insuristic and arrange one policy in 2 minutes (after some important risk-management steps explained below). There is no excess to pay either; if a claim comes in, the insurer handles everything, so everyone involved can move on with the comfort of cover in place that protects them forever.
Many people who land on this page are concerned about other risks and which policies they might need.
If you're not sure what you need, start with one of the guides below.
Each guide discusses the risks and the cover available, tailored to the estate's situation, and it usually helps to have a full view of your risks before starting a quote.
Missing Beneficiary Insurance is one cover most administrators of an intestate estate should consider. If the estate is testate (i.e. there is a Will), it is rarely needed unless the Will is ambiguous as to who should inherit, e.g. stating each child could inherit, rather than naming them, or perhaps there is a known beneficiary that can't be found.
Come back here when you're ready, or keep reading if you'd like to learn more about this cover
Whether you choose to insure or not, your obligations mean tracing anyone who could inherit from the estate, some of whom are family members whom you have never met or know nothing about their whereabouts.
Even with careful searches, you cannot be certain that someone won't surface later.
This is why you should appoint a probate genealogist to help you research who can inherit and assess the risks. This will also be a prerequisite for Missing Beneficiary Insurance. The genealogist should specialise in probate, as this is not the same as researching a family tree for informational or curiosity purposes. A specialist will assess the estate against the rules of intestacy and the risk of a missing beneficiary. They can even help you find missing people.
All Missing beneficiary underwriters will require sight of a genealogy report prior to quoting. This isn’t necessarily the case with Insuristic.
You will not find Insuristic's policy and approach anywhere else. We wanted to make Missing Beneficiary Insurance more accessible and easy to arrange, so we designed our solution to be different (in addition to you being able to arrange online):
Only the personal representatives can decide the level of indemnity, as you know the estate best. As a guide, work it out like this:
The policy does have some built-in protection against inflation, called the escalator clause.
It is an important policy extension, as inflation will gradually increase the risk of underinsurance. To counter this, our policy automatically increases the indemnity by up to 5% compound each year, for the first 10 years of the policy, up to a maximum of 125% of the estate value.
We include an escalator clause as standard; some underwriters do not, so it is worth checking your quotes prior to purchase.
If in doubt, it is always better to over-insure. You can easily compare prices by quoting at different indemnity levels, without releasing information each time. That way, you can compare costs and consider the benefits of the chosen indemnity level.
The cost of Missing Beneficiary Insurance will vary depending on the size of the estate and how the estate is being administered.
Provided there are no known missing beneficiary issues, our cover starts from the following minimum premiums (including Insurance Premium Tax):
The premium differential represents the value of legal advice involved during the application and administration process.
For a relatively modest cost, the policy provides significant peace of mind forever and has no excess to pay in the event of a claim.
Please note:
If an unknown beneficiary comes forward after the estate has been distributed, the most important thing is not to acknowledge this and contact the insurer straight away. Their contact details are in your policy documents.
Also:
Missing Beneficiary Insurance can be bought on its own, or combined with the other probate legal indemnity covers in a single quote.
If you also request a quote for the following policies at the same time, you will receive a 50% discount on the premium in return for combining 4 policies:
Lastly, if there is still property in the estate, you should separately consider adequate probate property insurance to protect yourself from the risk of gaps in cover and underinsurance.
Under Section 22 of the Limitation Act 1980, a beneficiary generally has 12 years from the date their right to receive their share arose to bring a claim to recover it, whether the estate was testate or intestate.
However, 12 years is not an absolute cut-off. The limit can be removed in cases involving fraud, and the clock runs from when the right to the share of the estate arose, which is not always the date of death. This is why Insuristic’s Missing Beneficiary Insurance is written to run in perpetuity: it gives the personal representatives and beneficiaries certainty forever.
It is primarily for administrators of intestate estates who need to protect themselves and the beneficiaries against the risk of a missed beneficiary coming forward to make a claim after the estate's distribution. It is also worth considering for a testate estate where the Will is ambiguous about who inherits, or where a named beneficiary cannot be found.
The policy runs in perpetuity, meaning it is a one-off purchase with no expiry date. That matters because a claim from a missing beneficiary can arise years after the estate has been distributed, so cover that lasts forever gives the personal representatives and beneficiaries lasting peace of mind.
It is built-in protection for Insuristic customers to guard against underinsurance caused by annual compounded inflation. As an estate can grow in value after distribution, the sum insured could otherwise fall short by the time a claim arises. The escalator clause increases the level of indemnity by up to 5% compound each year for the first 10 years of the policy, up to a maximum of 125% of the estate value.
No, and the two are often confused. If a later Will is found that names different beneficiaries, that is not a missing beneficiary claim; it is a missing Will claim, covered by Missing Will Insurance. The new beneficiaries aren't “missing"; they appear because a different Will has come to light.
Missing Beneficiary Insurance covers something narrower: a beneficiary who was always entitled under the estate as distributed, but who was either unknown at the time, typically under the rules of intestacy, or known but could not be traced.
Missing Beneficiary Insurance is typically arranged where there is no Will. It is rarely required when there is a Will, unless the Will is ambiguous or there is a beneficiary of the Will that can’t be found.
Rob Faulkner is an ACII Chartered Insurance Broker with 30+ years' experience in the UK insurance market. He is also a Chartered Manager and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
As the founder of Insuristic, Rob has developed clear, flexible insurance solutions for the probate market, for both solicitors and personal representatives.
He writes regularly on probate insurance, probate risk management, and unoccupied home insurance.
Rob is especially passionate about product development and insurance education, helping people understand what they are buying. These values shape everything we do at Insuristic.
Want to learn more? Visit About Rob Faulkner or follow Rob on LinkedIn.
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