Who to Tell

Many agencies, organisations and government departments will need to be informed of the death as soon as possible. Those you’ll need to contact will include some of the following:

• HM Revenue and Customs
• Child Benefit Office (Tel: 0300 200 3100)
• Tax Credit Office (Tel: 0345 300 3900)
• Student Loan Company
• DVLA
• The family doctor or GP surgery
• The hospital if the person who died was receiving treatment
• Their employer
• Jobcentre Plus if they were receiving benefits
• The Pension Service if they were receiving a state pension
• Their school, university or college
• Their bank or building society
• Their mortgage provider (if this is different from the bank)
• Credit card companies
• Their landlord if the property was rented
• The local council
• Utility companies (gas, electricity, water and telephone)
• Car insurance company
• Life and home insurance companies
• UK Identity and Passport service

Informing the relevant authorities will make managing the estate easier later on, and ensures that no charges, bills or interest on loans and credit cards are mounting up. It’s best to divide the list of people to call between members of the family.