Ellipse has today announced the launch of an excepted life trust for its group life clients.
It provides a trust wording suitable for excepted and single relevant life policies, and is governed by independent trustees PTL, which will handle claim payments through the trust.
The new trust solution will be made available to all new and existing excepted policyholders at no extra cost but it will cease if the excepted policy with Ellipse is cancelled. Each employer must sign and return the excepted trust deed to Ellipse with the policy application form.
A single excepted life trust can accommodate multiple excepted and single relevant policies from the same employer.
Unlike the Registered Life MasterTrust, each employer will execute their own trust using a trust deed wording which has been prepared on behalf of Ellipse by specialist lawyers. As periodic charges are normally due on the 10th anniversary, each trust will be wound up after 8 years and replaced. PTL will perform all trustee duties at the point of claim.
Ellipse CEO John Ritchie says: “We have decided to launch this trust solution in response to growing demand from advisers for excepted policies. We have found that at claim stage many trusts are not properly established and the employer is not able to exercise their duties as trustees. At the very least this delays payments to beneficiaries and can also bring unwanted tax liabilities. “