Canoe couple - the full story
Jul 23 2008 By Tom Wilkinson
CANOE EVIDENCE USED TO ISSUE DEATH CERTIFICATE
John Darwin’s wife was able to cash in on almost £250,000 after he was declared dead by a coroner - even though his body had never been found.
Anne Darwin claimed her husband’s £25,000 life insurance policy, his £25,000 teacher’s pension, his £58,000 prison service pension, £4,000 in payouts from the Department of Work and Pensions, and a £137,000 Norwich Union mortgage insurance policy after his smashed canoe was found washed up on a beach close his home.
It was used as evidence that Mr Darwin died at sea, which allowed Mrs Darwin to apply under section 15 of the Coroners Act 1988 to the Secretary of State for an inquest to be held.
Mrs Darwin answered questions at the inquest, but was never sworn in as a witness.
Hartlepool coroner Malcolm Donnelly used the smashed canoe as “strong evidence“ the former teacher had died at sea. On April 10 2003 he recorded an open verdict.
The Register General of Shipping and Seamen then issued a death certificate, which stated the prison officer “probably“ died while in a canoe in the sea near Hartlepool.
The Association of British Insurers said this was all the proof Mrs Darwin needed to cash in his life insurance.
“When a claim is made for life insurance, an insurer will normally require sight of the death certificate. If there is a body, then there will be a death certificate available,” a spokesman said.
“If a person disappears and no body is found, an application can be made to a coroner’s court to have that person declared dead.
“This application is made automatically if someone has been missing for seven years.
“But the application can be made sooner than that if there is strong evidence available that the missing person may be dead.
“If this evidence is there, then the coroner can then declare that person dead, which enables the insurance policy to be paid out.
“In this particular case there was circumstantial evidence that Mr Darwin was dead - the remains of the smashed canoe - and that is
what enabled the family to go to court and for the coroner to make his decision.
“Once that has happened, the life insurance can be paid out relatively quickly.”
Of the 29,000-plus inquests held a year, fewer than 10 are held where there is no body.
The Ministry of Justice - the Government department that administers tribunals - said Mrs Darwin would have gained a “grant of probate“ upon being issued with Mr Darwin’s death certificate.
“When a person dies, somebody has to deal with their estate (their money and possessions) by collecting in all the money, paying any debts and distributing what is left to those people entitled to it,” said spokeswoman Katherine Pateman.
“In order to gain authority to do this, they usually need to obtain a legal document called a Grant of Representation from the Probate Registry.”
A grant of probate, of which there are three kinds, is issued to one or more executors named in the deceased’s will upon production of a death certificate.
The grant may still be issued as a letter of administration if no executor is named, or if there is no will.
“If a death certificate has been issued, this is the only proof of death required to enable a grant of probate to issue,” she said.
“If no death certificate has been issued, it is possible for leave to be given to swear that death has occurred on or since a certain date and a grant of representation is issued on that basis.
“The order is made on application to a District Judge or District Probate Registrar supported by an affidavit of facts which sets out the grounds of the application and requests the order.
“If the presumed deceased had any insurance policies, notice of the application has to be given to the insurance company to enable them to make representations to the Court if they wish.
“If the district judge or registrar is satisfied, the order will be made.
“If he or she wants any further inquiries made, these are dealt with by the applicant and the matter reconsidered. If the evidence is
still not satisfactory, the order will be refused.”
Insurance company Norwich Union said a claim would be processed once the company was presented with a death certificate.
“This is the legal document we need. I cannot comment on this case specifically, but it would be very rare for a death certificate to be
available for somebody who was not dead,” a spokesman said.
