Life Assurance Cover UPDATE

As previously reported, having life cover is one of the key components of being a member of a pension scheme and, while some employers may offer Death in Service benefits as part of your normal contract of employment, our research has shown that your family is better protected if you are a member of your employer’s occupational pension scheme because the cover you will receive is genuinely higher.

RMT is committed to improving pensions, but also other connected benefits such as life cover. As part of this strategy, please be advised that our representatives have successfully managed to negotiate, through pay negotiations, a vast improvement to life assurance cover offered to members employed by shipping employer DFDS.

We can report that the DFDS has offered a life cover arrangement which will offer Death in Service protection of three times annual salary for accidental death or death through natural causes, which occurs on or off a vessel whilst in permanent employment with the company.

Following a referendum our members have voted to accept this enhancement as part of pay discussions. This improvement in life cover will benefit all Deck, Engine, and OBS ratings employed permanently by DFDS Guernsey.

We would advise that our representatives are currently in discussions with Stena Line for both seafarers and port workers where the employer currently has life cover in place where members of Smart Pensions, formally the Ensign Retirement Plan, dependents would receive two times annual salary death in service cover as well as a pension of 25% of annual salary paid for life to a dependent. Following discussions with the employer, it is clear that many members, and indeed shoreside management, are unclear on the details of this arrangement, so we will be working with the employer to improve communications in respect of this issue and indeed the level of life cover offered across this employer as there appears to be some disparity across Stena Line employees.

Another example of where ratings were unaware of the type of life cover offered to them was at shipping company James Fishers. We were advised that employees were covered for three times their basic salary in the event of their death but unknown to ratings or management was that this cover only insured them if the worse was to happen on board a vessel. Cleary such cover is inadequate, but following positive negotiations between RMT representatives and management, we have been able to secure an improvement in that life cover protects ratings and their families whether they are on board a vessel or at home.

In the meantime, we would remind all members to carry out the basic checks to ensure they are receiving life cover so that their families and loved ones are protected in the event of your death.

It is important to note that life cover policies are not paid through pension contributions. Such policies are separate from your occupational pension arrangement and are paid for by the employer although membership of the pension scheme is a condition of receiving life cover.