18-month wait for an annuity

Mrs L.D. writes: My husband died in October 2020, and staff at ReAssure were advised of this within a week. It was not until March 2021, after many phone calls, that they acknowledged receipt of the required documentation and proposed the new annuity in my name which should have started in December 2020. Yet my monthly annuity payment has still not been set up.

FOLLOWING the loss of your husband, you were entitled to a spouse’s annuity which, as you say, should have started in 2020.

ReAssure has told me that it apologises for the distress caused by its delays.

‘These delays were largely due to servicing challenges we were experiencing at the time, exacerbated by the Covid pandemic,’ it adds. However,

ReAssure says it did start paying your annuity last year.

This is true, though it appears the payments went into a savings account rather than the current account you were checking.

This has been put right and you now have all the missing payments.

ReAssure has added £400 as compensation for the long delays.