How to notify NOW: Pensions when someone dies

NOW: Pensions is one of the UK’s largest auto-enrolment workplace pension providers, used by more than 30,000 employers and covering several million members. If someone you have lost was employed at any point since 2012, there is a reasonable chance their employer used NOW: Pensions – and they may have a pension pot you need to claim.

This guide explains how to contact NOW: Pensions after a bereavement, what documents you will need, how the death benefit decision works, and what happens to the pension money. It covers the expression of wishes process, the April 2027 inheritance tax change, and the practical things that often catch families out.

Quick reference:

• NOW: Pensions bereavement line: 0333 091 8612 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm)
• General member support: 0330 100 3334 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm)
• Bereavement guide: nowpensions.com/support/members/guides/bereavement
• Payment timeline: up to two months from initial contact
• Critical rule: if more than two years pass after notification of death, any pension payment becomes subject to income tax. Notify NOW: Pensions promptly.

How to notify NOW: Pensions

The first step is a phone call. NOW: Pensions does not have a separate online bereavement portal like some larger pension providers – the process starts on the phone.

By phone

Call 0333 091 8612. According to NOW: Pensions, you will be put straight through to an adviser. Calls to 0333 numbers cost the same as a standard UK landline call and are included in most mobile contracts.

Before you call, have the following to hand:

• The deceased’s full name
• Their date of birth
• Their National Insurance number – this is the key identifier for their account. It appears on payslips, P60s, or any correspondence from HMRC. The format is two letters, six digits, and one letter (for example, QQ 12 34 56 Y). If you cannot find it, call anyway – NOW: Pensions may be able to locate the account with other details.

You can also reach member support on 0330 100 3334, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, if the bereavement line is busy or you need to follow up on an existing claim.

What happens when you call

The adviser will ask you to describe your relationship to the deceased and who is handling their affairs. They will gather information about family members and dependants. Rather than asking you to provide everything immediately, NOW: Pensions will send you a form setting out exactly what they need. This means the phone call is the start of the process, not a single transaction – you will be dealing with them over several weeks as documents and forms are exchanged.

Does Tell Us Once cover NOW: Pensions?

No. Tell Us Once – the government notification service offered when you register the death – does not include NOW: Pensions. You must contact them directly. This is a common gap: families assume that registering the death centrally covers pensions, and NOW: Pensions accounts are missed.

What documents you will need

NOW: Pensions will confirm their exact requirements after your initial contact. They describe the process as: gather information, identify who is handling affairs, collect details about family and dependants, then process identity evidence and bank details before payment. They will guide you through each stage.

Probate documents are not usually required upfront. Because NOW: Pensions death benefits are paid at the Trustee’s discretion outside the estate, the Trustee can pay without waiting for a grant of probate (see Probate section below). If the benefit is ultimately directed to the estate rather than a named beneficiary, probate documents would be needed at that point – but this is the exception rather than the rule.

Expression of wishes – who gets the money

How nominations work

NOW: Pensions members can nominate beneficiaries through the now:u member platform, in a section called “Pass it on.” Members name the person or people they want to receive their pension savings and specify what percentage each should receive (shares must total 100%). Beneficiaries do not have to be family members – members can also nominate charities or other organisations.

NOW: Pensions sends members a reminder every three years to log in and check their nominations are still current. Life events – marriage, divorce, having children, the death of a previously nominated person – can all make an old nomination outdated.

The Trustee’s discretion

The expression of wishes is not legally binding. The NOW: Pensions Trustee has the final say over where the money goes, though they will usually follow the deceased member’s wishes. This is standard for UK workplace pensions and is deliberate: because the Trustee retains discretion rather than being legally bound, the pension money sits outside the estate for inheritance tax purposes. If the nomination were legally binding, the deceased would have had a guaranteed right to direct the assets, which could bring the money into the taxable estate.

In practice, the Trustee almost always pays to whoever was nominated, provided the nomination is reasonably up to date and there are no competing claims. Where circumstances have changed since the nomination was last updated – a new marriage, a divorce, or a nominated person who has since died – the Trustee will investigate and use their judgment.

If there is no nomination

If the deceased never completed a nomination form, or their now:u account shows no active nomination, NOW: Pensions will still investigate and pay out. The Trustee will look for:

• A surviving spouse or civil partner
• Financially dependent family members
• Any indication of intent from the deceased’s correspondence or will (taken as evidence, not as a binding instruction)

The process takes longer without a nomination, as the Trustee needs more information to make a decision. If there is a will, share it with NOW: Pensions as supporting evidence – but be aware the will does not control the pension. What matters is what the deceased told NOW: Pensions in their expression of wishes, not what they wrote in their will.

What happens to the pension pot

NOW: Pensions is a defined contribution scheme. The pension pot is whatever the member’s contributions (and their employer’s contributions) have grown to through investment by the date of death. There is no guaranteed minimum – the pot value depends on contributions made and fund performance.

Death benefit payment

The Trustee can pay the death benefit as a lump sum to the nominated beneficiary or beneficiaries. In some cases, depending on the beneficiary’s circumstances and preference, a drawdown arrangement may be possible – but for most workplace pension accounts at NOW: Pensions, a lump sum payment is the standard outcome.

Is it inside or outside the estate?

Under the rules that apply to deaths before 6 April 2027, NOW: Pensions death benefits paid at the Trustee’s discretion do not form part of the taxable estate for inheritance tax purposes. The money bypasses the estate entirely. This is one reason it is worth notifying pension providers quickly, separately from the broader estate administration.

The April 2027 inheritance tax change

From 6 April 2027, this changes. The Finance Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 18 March 2026, brings unused pension funds and most pension death benefits within the scope of inheritance tax for people who die on or after that date. NOW: Pensions’ own bereavement guide acknowledges this change, noting that pension savings “will be included in inheritance tax calculations” from that date, and that the timing change is confirmed in law. (Source: gov.uk – Inheritance Tax: unused pension funds and death benefits)

What this means in practice:

The spousal exemption still applies: pension death benefits paid to a surviving spouse or civil partner are exempt from inheritance tax regardless of the date of death.

For deaths before April 2027 where you are managing a large estate, it is worth knowing the pension proceeds are outside the taxable estate. For deaths on or after that date, you may want to seek advice from a solicitor or financial adviser who specialises in estates.

Income tax on the pension payment

Separately from inheritance tax, the payment to the beneficiary may be subject to income tax depending on the deceased’s age at death:

• Died before age 75: the payment can be made tax-free, provided the scheme is notified and payment is made within two years of the date of death. If the two-year window is missed, the payment becomes subject to income tax at the beneficiary’s marginal rate – regardless of the deceased’s age.
• Died at age 75 or over: income tax at the beneficiary’s marginal rate applies to all payments.

(Source: gov.uk – tax on a private pension you inherit)

Probate and the pension

Most NOW: Pensions death benefits do not require probate. Because the Trustee pays at their discretion rather than to the estate, the money sits outside the estate and can be released directly to beneficiaries without a grant of probate. You do not need to wait for probate to begin the claim process – contact NOW: Pensions as soon as you can after the death.

The exception is if the Trustee decides the appropriate route is to pay the benefit into the estate – which can happen where there are no traceable beneficiaries and no nomination. In that case, the money becomes part of the estate and probate documents would be needed before it could be distributed. NOW: Pensions will advise if this applies.

For guidance on the probate process itself, see our guide to how long does probate take?

How long it takes

NOW: Pensions’ own guidance states that information verification takes 2–3 weeks and that full payment may take up to two months. Cases with a clear, up-to-date nomination and no complications tend to move faster. Cases with no nomination, competing claims, or complex family circumstances take longer.

There is also an absolute deadline: no payments can be made more than six years after the date of death. This is unusual in UK pension practice and means that if a NOW: Pensions account is discovered late – for example, when going through paperwork years after a death – it may be too late to claim. Deal with it as promptly as you can.

Tips and things to watch out for

Check whether the deceased had a NOW: Pensions account before assuming not. NOW: Pensions is used by more than 30,000 employers. Any employee auto-enrolled through an employer that used NOW: Pensions as their scheme provider will have a pot, even if they were with that employer only briefly and even if the contributions were small. Look at payslips, P60s, and annual pension statements. The government’s free Pension Tracing Service can help you search by employer name if you cannot find paperwork.

The will does not control the pension. A common misunderstanding: the will has no authority over a NOW: Pensions account. The nomination form the member completed in now:u is what guides the Trustee. If the deceased left everything to Person A in their will but nominated Person B on their NOW: Pensions expression of wishes, the pension goes to Person B – or to whoever the Trustee decides, guided by that nomination. The will can be shared as evidence of intent, but it is not binding on the Trustee.

Update nominations after major life events. If you are a NOW: Pensions member reading this guide after dealing with someone else’s estate, check your own nomination. NOW: Pensions prompts members every three years via the now:u platform, but life changes faster than that. A nomination naming an ex-spouse, a parent who has since died, or a person from whom you are now estranged can cause significant complications for your family.

The two-year clock runs from notification, not from the date of death. Strictly speaking, the two-year window for tax-free payment (where the member died before age 75) starts from when the pension scheme is notified of the death. Notify NOW: Pensions as soon as possible after the death – do not wait until probate or other estate matters are resolved.

Employer contributions are part of the pot. Unlike some insurance-based death-in-service policies, the NOW: Pensions pot includes both what the member contributed and what their employer put in. Both sets of contributions are part of the fund and are subject to the same trustee decision.

Email contact is available. If you are not ready to call or want to follow up in writing, the general member support email is membersupport@nowpensions.com. Phone is the recommended first step, but email is an option for follow-up.

Summary

If the person you have lost had a workplace pension through NOW: Pensions, call 0333 091 8612 to start the claims process. Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. You will need the deceased’s full name, date of birth, and National Insurance number. NOW: Pensions will send you a form and guide you through each step. Most claims are settled within two months.

Key things to have ready: death certificate, your own photo ID and proof of address, and the deceased’s NI number. The will does not control the pension – the nomination they made in now:u does.

For a broader overview of how pensions work after a death – including state pensions, public-sector schemes, and how to trace lost accounts – see our what happens to pensions guide. For the government’s auto-enrolment default scheme, see our NEST pension bereavement guide.

For the full list of organisations to notify after a bereavement, see who to notify when someone dies.

Phone numbers and process last verified: 14 May 2026, from nowpensions.com – bereavement guide and nowpensions.com – contact us. IHT change sourced from gov.uk – Inheritance Tax: unused pension funds and death benefits.