Phillips and Cohen - Deceased dad debt that we have no knowledge of

[Guest]

Hi guys! First post here. Looking for some help as i'm panicking a fair bit over this. My dad died in 2019. In December of 2020 my mother and i got a letter addressed to the executor of my father's estate from Phillip's and Cohen. It's for a debt of about £2600 and it mentions that they are chasing it on behalf of their client 'Arrow Global Limited' but it also says the debt was with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Now, my dad was 100% British. He was never with RBS, so we have no clue what this could be. As far as we know, he never got a loan or anything like that.
My dad's estate didn't come to much but there was a life insurance policy that went to my mother. I assume we would have to pay the debt from that. We haven't responded to them yet as idk what to do, but we just got a second letter today just asking for the payment again. Obviously, i don't think ignoring them is a good idea, but legally, where do we stand? Can i ask them for proof of the debt? If i ask them, will i be acknowledging it in some way? We didn't use a solicitor for my dad's estate and got probate and letters of administration ourselves. I learnt how to do that stuff but i'm a bit lost on what to do next. Thanks

[des8]

Firstly the life assurance might well not be part of your late father's estate.
If it was "written in trust" the assurance company retains ownership of the asset until they pay it to the specified beneficiary.
So don't be ready to pay it to Cohen!

No will, but only a small estate.
Did you post a notice in the Gazette and local paper asking for creditors to come forward?

To begin with I would just write back explaining you know nothing of this debt and so would require full details.

[Krayg95]

Firstly the life assurance might well not be part of your late father's estate.
If it was "written in trust" the assurance company retains ownership of the asset until they pay it to the specified beneficiary.
So don't be ready to pay it to Cohen!

No will, but only a small estate.
Did you post a notice in the Gazette and local paper asking for creditors to come forward?

To begin with I would just write back explaining you know nothing of this debt and so would require full details.

Hi, thanks for your reply, i have made an account now to respond. We didn't post an advert in the gazette unfortunatley. I had no idea it was a thing we were supposed to do .
Yeah, i think i'm gonna ask them for info first. We already have the life insurance money also. Thanks!

[MIKE770]

The proceeds of a life insurance policy cannot be diverted away from the named beneficiaries to pay for the debts of the deceased person, but if the beneficiary has outstanding debts, creditors can and will attempt to take some or all of the pay out, depending on the amount of the debt.

[MIKE770]

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[Krayg95]

Hi, thanks for your reply, i have made an account now to respond. We didn't post an advert in the gazette unfortunatley. I had no idea it was a thing we were supposed to do .
Yeah, i think i'm gonna ask them for info first. We already have the life insurance money also. Thanks!

I see. So if they wanted us to pay with the money from the life insurance, that wouldn't be possible? Meaning i could tell them to get stuffed? Dad had nothing else of value apart from the life insurance.

[des8]

It depends on how the policy was written

When you applied for letters of administration did you include the policy in the tax declaration?

[Krayg95]

It depends on how the policy was written

When you applied for letters of administration did you include the policy in the tax declaration?

Yeah, it was listed in the estate report i submitted if that's what you mean? It specifically had a section asking if there were any life insurance policies.

[des8]

As it was in the estate account Cohen will have seen it, and this has obviously sparked the search.
So you will have to either find the policy or ask the insurers if it was written in trust, and if so who was the named beneficiary.
If it was written in trust it does not form part of your father's estate and should not have been included in the tax declaration.

[Krayg95]

As it was in the estate account Cohen will have seen it, and this has obviously sparked the search.
So you will have to either find the policy or ask the insurers if it was written in trust, and if so who was the named beneficiary.
If it was written in trust it does not form part of your father's estate and should not have been included in the tax declaration.

I see, thankyou for this information!