i think it is helpful of your post ,before have a contract with an assurance company and their service , do some research on the items and consider carefully is necessary ! because the staff in the assurance company promise many good things before you sign the contract but it is not just as expected when you need the help of them !( sorry if i m wrong )

Good luck getting anything out of Abbey Life !

I am the executor of my late father's estate and everyone I have dealt with so far has been helpful and sympathetic... with the notable exception of Abbey Life.

They are using every delaying trick in the book and requiring absurd levels of documentation for what is a very small sum due on a life insurance policy. The staff are unhelpful and insensitive in the main. Their basic approach is that anyone ringing them is probably a fraudster.

Apparently a post-mortem and a death certificate are not enough for Abbey Life - they want the names and addresses of all medical staff present at my father's death. Cheers Abbey, your sensitive approach is heart-warming at this difficult time.

Well if you haven't already phone the FSA see what they say. Have you complained to the Financial Ombudsman. If not phone them too and find out the way forward.

I have a trivial annuity with the ABBEY LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED. When this became due for payment hey did not pay this for the first three years after it matured. Last year they suddenly only paid half of what was due into my nominated account. I have written to them several times and telephoned them, but they still have done nothing about their error, and claim they have a queue of complaints waiting and will not be able to do anything about it for a long time. My next payment is due in July, but I suspect they will not pay that or not all of it. It is such a trivial amount that I have already had to spend more than the net amount in recorded delivery letters, postage, paper, printing ink and telephone calls trying to get ABBEY LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED to pay what is due! This is really unjust. I think they just hope that I will die if they do nothing for long enough? It has now been over 2 months since I last contacted them about the shortfall last year. I thought they had to deal with this in a maximum of 8 weeks, but they still have done nothing? Short of suing them in the courts for default of contract what can I do to get them to pay the amount due? What makes it worse is that this is a statutory annuity which was purchased as part of the NI requirements, as the notional contribution to a non-contributory pension scheme, in lieu of a SERPS contribution, so it was not a voluntary annuity.