What is death in service benefit?
Death in service is a lump sum paid by an employer if an employee dies while still employed, usually a multiple of salary. It is normally paid through a discretionary trust, so it follows the nomination held by the scheme — not your will.
Typical cover is two to four times salary. It is generally paid free of inheritance tax because of the trustees' discretion, and it usually reaches the family quickly, without waiting for probate.
It ends the day the employment does. Changing job, retiring or being made redundant removes it, often at a point when personal cover was never arranged because the employer's benefit felt sufficient. That gap is one of the more common protection failures.
Because it flows from a nomination form, the same review discipline applies as for pensions — and it is worth checking whether the benefit is provided under a registered pension scheme, which affects how it interacts with the lump sum and death benefit allowance.