Mr. Graham Whiteasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether he will take steps to free the dependants of members of the Mercantile Marine who lose their lives at sea from the obligation to pay a fee to the General Register and Record Office for a certificate of the supposed cause of death?
§ Mr. Noel-BakerThe dependants of seamen who lose their lives at sea are supplied free of cost with an informal certificate of death. This informal certificate is generally accepted for the purposes of small insurance claims. For purposes of probate and for the larger insurance claims, a formal certificate of death is required. This can be obtained from the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen for the charge of 2s. 6d. No death certificate is required for any claim by dependants for a pension under the Merchant Navy Pensions Scheme.