Royal London has expanded its signature-free beneficiary nomination, an alternative to setting up a plan trust, to its Whole of Life plans.

The feature, introduced on Personal Menu Plans for individual Life Cover and Life or Critical Illness Cover less than two years ago, allows customers to nominate who will receive the payout if there is a claim paid after they die. It’s already proved a popular addition, with a quarter of advisers using it when writing personal protection business.

Beneficiary nomination provides a simpler alternative to using a trust. If a customer’s situation is straightforward and they know who they currently want to benefit, they should consider beneficiary nomination.

Royal London will automatically pay any benefit after the customer dies to their nominated beneficiary. The customer can nominate a beneficiary as part of their application. Customers can change their nomination at any time and there’s no need for probate or the completion of a trust form.

For more complicated beneficiary requirements, customers should still consider completing a trust form.

Jennifer Gilchrist (pictured), protection specialist at Royal London, said: “The introduction of beneficiary nominations on personal protection has and will continue to help improve the claims experience for many of our customers, during what can be an incredibly difficult and emotional time. Having a nominated beneficiary in place means we’re able to pay out to a customer’s family as quickly as possible when their loved one passes away.

“It’s great to see advisers taking up this feature so positively. It’s a simpler alternative to writing plans in trust, and makes sure our customers’ money goes where it should with no delays – so the decision to extend it to whole of life plans made perfect sense. With the introduction of the new Consumer Duty next year, this is an example of Royal London supporting advisers in delivering the best financial outcomes for their customers.”