Banks and other financial organisations
Contact the person’s bank or mortgage, pension or insurance providers directly to close or change the details of their accounts.
The Tell Us Once service
The UK givernment operates a service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go.
When you register the death the registrar will:
- let you know if the service is available in your area
- give you the phone number
- give you a unique reference number to use the Tell Us Once service online or by phone
What you need to use Tell Us Once
You’ll need the following details of the person who died:
- date of birth
- National Insurance number
- driving licence number
- passport number
You’ll also need:
- details of any benefits or entitlements they were getting, eg State Pension
- details of any local council services they were getting, eg Blue Badge
- the name and address of their next of kin
- the name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money), known as their ‘executor’ or ‘administrator’
- details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were getting or paying in to
You need permission from the next of kin, the executor, the administrator or anyone who was claiming joint benefits or entitlements with the person who died, before you give their details.
Organisations Tell Us Once will contact
Tell Us Once will notify:
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – to deal with tax and cancel benefits
- Department for Work and Pensions (>DWP) – to cancel benefits, eg Income Support
- Passport Office – to cancel a passport
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) – to cancel a driving licence
- the local council – to cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, a Blue Badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
- public sector or armed forces pension schemes – to stop pension payments
There’s a different process to update property records if the person who died owns land or property.
If Tell Us Once isn’t available
You’ll have to let the relevant organisations know about the death yourself if:
- your local register office doesn’t offer the Tell Us Once service
- you choose not to use it
- the person died abroad
Contact the following organisations if you didn’t use the Tell Us Once service.
1. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Contact HMRC, who will work out whether the right amount of tax has been paid by the person who died. They’ll let you know:
- what tax they need to collect or repay
- whether you need to fill in a Self Assessment tax return on the person’s behalf, eg when the estate continues to receive income
You can also use HMRC’s bereavement tool to work out which forms to fill in and where to send them.
Inheritance Tax may be due on the person’s estate after they die.
2. National Insurance (NI) Contributions Office
Contact the NI Contributions Office to cancel the person’s NI payments if they were self-employed or paying voluntary NI.
3. Child Benefit Office
Contact the Child Benefit Office if a child or the parent dies. You need to do this within 8 weeks of the death.
4. Tax Credit Office
Contact the Tax Credit Office if your partner or a child you’re responsible for dies. You need to do this within 1 month of the death.
5. Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Contact the bereavement service to cancel the person’s benefits and entitlements, including their State Pension. They’ll also check if you’re eligible for help with funeral costs or other benefits.
DWP Bereavement Service:
Telephone: 0345 606 0265
Textphone: 0345 606 0285
Welsh language: 0345 606 0275
Find out about call charges
6. Personal, workplace and armed forces pensions
What you need to do to stop pension payments will depend on the type of pension.
Use the Pension Tracing Service to find details of the person’s personal or workplace pension.
Contact Veterans UK if the person had an armed forces pension.
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