Missing Will Insurance

Insuristic is the first insurance broker in the UK to offer Missing Will Insurance quotes online to both personal representatives (executors or administrators) and solicitors.

Claims following the discovery of another Will can happen anytime in the future, and they can be significant, particularly if it contains differing beneficiaries and shares of inheritance.

As the executor (if there is a Will) or Administrator (no Will), referred to as personal representatives from now on, you must ensure the probate is applied for on the correct basis, and using the most recent Will.  If you think the deceased didn’t make a Will and the estate is therefore intestate, you must make best endeavours to ensure that this is the case.

The discovery of a Will in either scenario that wasn't considered prior to the estate's distribution leaves you legally liable, exposing you to the financial risk of defending the claim and settling with successful claimants.

If the personal representatives don’t have the funds, after they have used all their cash and disposed of assets, the beneficiaries can then be drawn into the claim and asked to repay some or all of their inheritance towards the remaining settlement.

So, whether there is a valid Will or not, it is important to consider Missing Will Insurance.  One policy, arranged in 2 minutes (after some important risk management steps explained below), will protect all personal representatives and beneficiaries from a claim arising from the discovery of another Will forever.  There is no excess to pay either; if a claim comes in, the insurer handles everything so the personal representatives and beneficiaries can move on with their lives, with the comfort of insurance.

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.  

• There's a Will (testate estate): What insurance should I consider for a testate estate?

• There's no Will (intestate estate): What insurance should I consider for an intestate estate?

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 Will Insurance is one cover most personal representatives should consider. Come back here when you're ready, or keep reading if you'd like to learn more about this cover

Prior to requesting a Missing Will Insurance quote, you need to complete the following steps:

1. Carry out a Will Search Combined with the National Will Register. This searches their database of over 10 million records and the solicitors and Will writers local to where the deceased lived. A Will Search Combined from the National Will Register is the only search we accept when arranging cover.
2. Search all the deceased's documentation. Go through paperwork at the deceased's property and anywhere else it may be held to locate a Will, or a later Will than the one you're relying on.  This is important as Wills are paper-based, and many are not recorded with the National Will Register.

The insurer will ask you to confirm this has been done when requesting a quote.  

Please note:

• We don't need to see a copy of the Will Search, provided it doesn't reveal another Will. If the National Will Register does find one, you should seek legal advice.
• If the Will you're relying on isn't valid, for example, a non-certified copy, or a damaged or torn Will, you should first seek legal advice. We may be able to arrange cover on referral to the underwriter, but there is no guarantee, as the chances of a claim can be high in this scenario. 

Only the personal representatives can decide the level of indemnity, as you know the estate best. As a guide, work it out like this:

1. Start with the gross value of the estate.
2. Deduct the liabilities: debts, the mortgage, funeral costs, and any other liabilities you find, to reach the net estate value.
3. Add an allowance for future legal costs. The policy will pay out up to the limit of indemnity, including legal costs, expenses and awards to successful claimants, so you need to add an allowance on top. You don’t want a claim in ten years, and the indemnity isn’t high enough to cover the loss, leaving you with a liability.

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 rekeying information each time.  That way, you can compare costs and consider the benefits of the chosen indemnity level.

The cost of Missing Will Insurance varies depending on the size of the estate and how the estate is being administered.

Provided there are no known issues, our cover starts from the following minimum premiums (including Insurance Premium Tax):

• £98 where a solicitor is handling the full estate administration.
• £119 where a solicitor has applied for the Grant only.
• £140 where the personal representatives are carrying out the work entirely themselves.

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 there are known issues, we may be able to help following a referral to the underwriter. As a starting point, disclose the issues during the quote journey. Your quote will refer, and we can start from there.

If another Will is discovered, the most important thing is to contact the insurer straight away. Their contact details are in your policy documents.

Remember:

• Don't acknowledge the claim, admit liability, or discuss it with anyone making the claim. Simply pass their details to the insurer and let their claims team take over.  There is nothing else for you to do from this point.
• Your policy sets out the full claims conditions. It's important to read and follow them, as a breach could result in the insurer rejecting the claim or reducing what it pays.

Missing Will Insurance can be bought on its own, or combined with the other probate legal indemnity covers in a single quote.

For testate estates (where there is a Will) consider also including:

• Early Distribution Insurance - covering Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claims, whether distributing the estate early or not.
• Section 27 Insurance - covering claims from unknown creditors after distribution

For intestate estates (where there is no Will), you should consider combining these policies along with Missing Beneficiary Insurance, which protects against the risk of a beneficiary being missed from distribution who later makes a claim.  You can also arrange cover if a known beneficiary can't be found.

If you need to buy all 4 legal indemnity policies together, you will receive a 50% discount from the insurer.

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.