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image for Excepted life mastertrust | Death in service benefits | Master trust

Excepted life assurance schemes

Excepted life schemes are a good way to provide death in service benefits for employees affected by the pension lifetime allowance. They need to be handled correctly though, so you don't face tax charges and Financial Ombudsman complaints.


The benefits of using the PSGS excepted life assurance master trust are clear:

  • save tax for an employee’s beneficiaries
  • ensure compliance and avoid periodic tax charges and exit tax charges
  • manage the risk of making improper decisions
  • remove the need to re-establish your excepted life assurance trust every time you change insurer

Saving tax for beneficiaries

The situation

A senior employee dies in active employment before drawing any pension benefits. They have:

  • death in service benefit: £480,000 from a registered group life trust
  • defined contribution (DC) pension savings: £750,000

The issue

With no lifetime allowance protection, the full DC pension savings of £750,000 and £480,000 lump sum death benefit are tested against the lifetime allowance. In the 2018/19 tax year, this means the lifetime allowance is exceeded by £200,000 and a 55% tax charge of £110,000 must be paid by the beneficiaries of the employee’s death benefits.

The solution

If the employee’s £480,000 death benefit had been insured under an excepted life trust:

  • this lump sum wouldn’t be tested against the lifetime allowance
  • the lifetime allowance would not be exceeded
  • there'd be no tax charge!

As well the tax saving for an employee’s beneficiaries, the PSGS Excepted Life Master Trust also helps employers manage the risk of making improper decisions - in the same way as our - and ensure compliance to avoid being faced with periodic tax or exit tax charges.

To learn more about how the PSGS excepted life mastertrust could help you with providing death benefits to some of your most valuable employees, please contact us or download our service flyer: PSGS excepted life master trust

Speak direct to our specialist in this area
Picture of James Double independent trustee at PSIT

James Double

Head of Trusteeship
Email James
Or call us on:

0845 313 0024

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Is this as good as it gets?

Group life master trust

An overview of PSGS's trustee service for life-only trusts

Excepted life master trust

Learn about how a PSGS master trust could help you

Trustee discretions - payment of death benefits

Read our trustee discretions briefing note

Call: 0845 313 0024

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