Introduction
When someone close to you dies, it can be a difficult and painful time. Often the admin which comes with it can seem overwhelming. In the UK, the Tell Us Once service can take over some of the hard work. This free death notification service makes it easy to report a death to most government organisations in one go.
This article explains everything you need to know about the Tell Us Once service and how to use it. It also takes you through the next steps after using the service, so you can feel clear and supported as you work through all the important tasks you need to complete after someone dies.
What is the Tell Us Once Service?
Tell Us Once is a free service offered by the UK Government. It is designed to make it easy to tell multiple government departments and local councils that someone has died.
When you're bereaved, the thought of contacting every agency that needs to know can feel daunting. There’s a full list below, but it includes departments dealing with benefits, driving licences, passports and council tax. Tell Us Once allows you to report the death once, securely and confidentially. You don’t have to contact each organisation individually.
Who can use Tell Us Once?
You can use Tell Us Once to notify a death in the UK if the person who died was living in England, Scotland, or Wales. You can also use the service if someone died when they were abroad for a short time, such as for a holiday or business trip.
You can’t use Tell Us Once if the person who died was:
Living in Northern Ireland when they died. For information on what to do if they lived in Northern Ireland, visit nidrect.
Living permanently abroad when they died.
How to use the Tell Us Once service
To use Tell Us Once, first you must register the death and receive a reference number.
The process usually begins when you visit the registrar’s office to register the death. In England and Wales, you must do this within five days. When you meet with the registrar, they will explain the Tell Us Once service in detail. Find your registrar office
The registrar will either:
Complete the Tell Us Once service with you during the appointment.
Give you a unique reference number so you can go away and access the service yourself. You can then go to GOV.UK to complete the process. Or if you prefer to use the phone, the registrar will give you the number to call.
You must use the Tell Us Once service within 28 days of receiving your unique reference number. We’d advise you to do it as soon as you can. It will save you a lot of time spent contacting multiple organisations.
What if you can’t register the death?
Sometimes it isn’t possible to get a death certificate straight away. It might be that a death needs to be reported to the coroner, and there may need to be a post-mortem (examination of the body) or an inquest (a special inquiry to find out why the person died).
In these cases you can get an interim death certificate from the coroner. You should then take this to the registrar who can give you the reference number you need to use Tell Us Once.
Information you need before Using Tell Us Once
You will need to gather some information together to use the Tell Us Once service. You will need
The reference number from the registrar (if you are completing the process yourself).
The surname of the person who died.
The date they died.
Details of the executor(s) or administrator(s) of the person’s estate. Executors or administrators are the people (or sometimes, a company) who are dealing with the property, belongings, and money of the person who died. You will need their name, address and contact details.
If the person was married and their husband, wife or civil partner is still alive, you will need their name, address, and telephone number. You will also need their National Insurance number or date of birth.
If the person doesn’t have a spouse (husband or wife) or civil partner, who is still alive (or if the spouse or partner can’t deal with their affairs for some reason) you will need the name and address of the next of kin of the person who died.
If the person died in a hospital, nursing home, care home, or hospice, you will need its name and address. You will also be asked if the stay was for 28 days or more.
You may also need the following details:
National Insurance Number (this is helpful in general, and important if they were receiving or paying into certain pension schemes, eg NHS or government)
Driving licence number if they had one
Vehicle registration number(s) if they owned any vehicles
Passport number and town of birth if they had a passport
Details of any benefits or entitlements they were receiving, such as state pension or universal credit
Details of any local council services or benefits they were receiving, such as Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction (or Support)
Name and details of anyone claiming joint benefits with the person who died
The number of the person’s Blue Badge (disabled person’s parking permit) if they had one, and if you know the number.
Details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were getting money from or paying into.
Getting permission
You need to ask permission from people before you give their details. This includes the husband, wife, civil partner or next of kin, the executor or administrator, and anyone who was claiming benefits or entitlements jointly with the person who died.
Which organisations does Tell Us Once contact?
Once you use the Tell Us Once service, it will contact a wide range of government organisations securely, and tell them that the person has died. These organisations include:
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC): HMRC deals with personal tax and will cancel benefits and credits such as Child Benefit and tax credits. (Tell Us Once does not deal with business taxes like VAT, so you will need to contact HMRC separately for these if the person was a business owner or self-employed.)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP): The DWP will cancel benefits and entitlements, for example, Universal Credit or State Pension.
Passport Office: The passport office will cancel the British passport of someone who’s died.
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA): The DVLA will cancel a driving licence, remove the person as the keeper of up to five vehicles, and end vehicle tax. (Tell Us Once cannot deal with the sale of vehicles or change registered keeper details. You need to contact the DVLA directly for this. The vehicle will need to be taxed again before it is driven.)
The Local Council: The Local Council will cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction (or Support), and a Blue Badge, and the council will also inform council housing services, and remove the person from the electoral register.
Veterans UK: If the person who died served in the armed forces, Veterans UK will cancel or update Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments, War Pension Scheme, and Armed Forces Pension Scheme payments. They can also check if any payments can still be made to a dependent of the person who died (child, husband or wife, or civil partner).
Public Sector Pension Schemes: Tell Us Once will also notify some schemes to cancel future pension payments to the person who died. These include:
Armed Forces Pensions
NHS Pensions for NHS staff in England and Wales
Scottish Public Pension Agency schemes for NHS staff, teachers, police, and firefighters in Scotland
Pension Protection Fund and Financial Assistance Scheme
Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS)
My Civil Service Pension
HMRC and DWP may contact you directly if they need to discuss the tax, benefits, and entitlements of the person who died.
Organisations that Tell Us Once does not contact
Tell Us Once does not notify all the organisations you need to inform when someone dies. You will still need to contact the following organisations separately.
Banks and building societies: You will need to close or change the details of the person's financial accounts.
Mortgage providers.
Insurance providers.
Companies that the person had contracts with, such as utility companies, landlords, or housing associations.
Personal or workplace pension schemes, unless they are one of the public sector pension schemes listed above. You can search for pension contact details if needed.
TV Licensing.
Companies who can arrange post to be redirected.
You may also need to:
Update property records if the person owned land or property. Information on how to do this can be found at GOV.UK.
Contact the DVLA if you sell a vehicle owned by the person who died, or if you keep it and need to tax it in your own name.
Contact HMRC if the person owed business taxes like VAT.
Contact the Student Loans Company (SLC) if the person had a student loan.
Trustestate can take over the admin for you, and notify banks and organisations, if you chose our full estate administration service.
After you use Tell Us Once
Once you have used the Tell Us Once death notification service, you do not usually need to follow up with the government departments. You should receive a confirmation from the relevant department after a reasonable period (in most cases, a calendar month). The agencies informed by Tell Us Once will get in touch if they need any more information from you.
Tell Us Once is not a claim for benefits. You will need to contact GOV.UK or the relevant department for advice on benefits you may now be entitled to (including bereavement benefits).
Next steps: What you still need to do after using Tell Us Once
While Tell Us Once makes the process of notification quicker and simpler, it's not the only thing you need to do. There are many steps to go through when you are sorting out the affairs of someone who has died. Some other things you need to do after registering the death and using Tell Us Once include:
Telling private organisations not covered by Tell Us Once
Finding the will, if there is one
Valuing the estate (property, possessions and any debt of the person who died)
Checking if the estate needs to pay Inheritance Tax
Applying for probate
Sorting the estate
Find out more about this process or read more in our Learn section.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Tell Us Once service
1. What is the Tell Us Once service?
The Tell Us Once service is a free death notification service which makes it easy to report a death to most government organisations and local councils. You can use the service if you live in England, Wales or Scotland.
2. Do I need to pay to use Tell Us Once?
No, Tell Us Once is a free service.
3. How long does it take for Tell Us Once to work?
The Tell Us Once service is quick to complete and can often be done at the appointment when you register the death. If you do it yourself you must do it within 28 days of getting a unique reference number. It only takes about 10 minutes to complete the forms, but it may take a bit of time to gather all the information you need. Once completed it can take a few weeks for all the organisations to make the changes needed, and they will contact you if they need more information. You should receive confirmation from each of the relevant departments within a month.
4. Does Tell Us Once inform HMRC?
Yes, but only for certain things. Using Tell Us Once means you don’t have to tell them directly about personal tax, and benefits and credits such as Child Benefit and tax credits will be cancelled. Tell Us Once does not deal with business taxes like VAT, so if the person was self-employed or owned a business you will need to contact HMRC separately to deal with these.
5. Does Tell Us Once inform private organisations?
Tell Us Once does not inform private organisations, such as employers, banks, mortgage companies, private pension providers, utility companies and many others. You will have to contact them yourself and let them know that someone has died. Another option is to use a service such as we offer at Trustestate [https://www.trustestate.co.uk/#pricing].
How Trustestate can help
Dealing with the admin after someone dies can be a challenging and overwhelming process. Let Trustestate take out the hassle for a fixed transparent fee. We offer a simple, streamlined service with expert support at every stage. Book a free call with one of our experts to find out more.
What we offer
Use our Complete Probate service and we’ll manage every stage of the process – we’ll take over all the admin, apply to the court for probate, and share out the estate. Or if the estate is simple and you have time, you can use our Grant of Probate service, and we’ll apply for probate using information you provide.
Whichever service you choose, you’ll get dedicated advice every step of the way, and an online platform to keep track of everything.
