The Bereavement Standard for Intermediaries

Following the publication of The Financial Vulnerability Taskforce’s two bereavement guides, for consumers and intermediaries, its parent body The Consumer Duty Alliance has created a voluntary set of bereavement standards.

The Bereavement Standard aims to define what good practice looks like when a firm supports the recently bereaved, in terms of what the firm will do and how it will do it. 

Register your support for the Bereavement Standard and you’ll receive a unique digital badge for your communications. Whilst the Standard is voluntary, please ensure you are fully aware of and comply with any requirements placed upon you by your firm.

The Standard is a standalone initiative but can also be used in conjunction with the Financial Vulnerability Taskforce Charter and Consumer Duty Alliance Code of Professional Standards, each with its own unique badge and Consumer Guide.

The Bereavement Standard

As professionals working in The UK retail finance sector:

1. We will always deliver our services in line with the FCA's Consumer Duty requirements.
2. We will always be sensitive in our use of language when communicating with our clients, their next of kin and family members and aim to mirror the terminology used by them. We understand some bereaved people prefer to use direct language, referring to their loved one as having ‘died’, whilst others prefer to use softer euphemisms such as ‘passed’ or ‘passed away’.
3. Upon hearing of the death of a client or family member, we will issue a ‘bereavement pack’ that will include practical information and guidance, within a timescale specified within our service level agreements.*

When it's our client who has died:

4. We will promptly acknowledge all correspondence from the client’s family, as well as executors/administrators or solicitors involved in the estate of our client, within the timescales specified within our service level agreements.
5. Wherever possible, we will ensure the bereaved person or family has access to an individual or adviser within our firm who has received bereavement awareness training, so that there’s a knowledgeable and empathetic person to speak with at all times.**
6. We will offer our client’s family an initial meeting, at a convenient time, to outline how we can help support them and ease the administrative and emotional burden during this difficult time.
7. We will work collaboratively and efficiently upon request with:  

• • • the executors of the estate in matters relating to probate, letters of administration and estate management.
    • other relevant parties such as solicitors and accountants.

8. Subject to appropriate authority, we will request date of death valuations from investment/pension providers and confirm applicable probate thresholds and documentation requirements.
9. We periodically review our dealings with the bereaved family to improve our service. Where appropriate, we may invite feedback at a later stage, ensuring sensitivity at all times to the family’s circumstances and readiness.

* In support of Standard 3, please feel free to use The FVT Good Practice Guide - Practical help and support for those who have been bereaved.

** In support of Standard 5, the National Bereavement Service (NBS) provides specialist CPD-accredited bereavement training that equips financial sector professionals with the knowledge and skills to provide compassionate, empathetic, and effective service to clients navigating bereavement, grief and loss. Find out more about this training and how to sign up for it here.
The National Bereavement Service is offering all CDA members a £5 discount on the training cost. Just enter CDA5 in the Coupon box on the booking form.

Alternative providers of grief and bereavement training can be found here.