When someone dies you need to contact a wide variety of organisations to inform them of the death.
The Tell Us Once service is a helpful and easy way to let several organisations and departments know when someone has died. This is done securely and confidentially without you having to inform them individually.
About the service
The service is free and you can use it online or by telephone. The services that will be notified include:
- Local council
- Council housing
- Housing benefits
- Council Tax
- Blue Badge
- Electoral services
- Adult Social Care
- Libraries
- Certain public sector pensions
- Local authority pension
Passport office
- Passport cancellation
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
- Child benefit
- Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit
- Personal taxation
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Pension, disability and carers service
- Universal Credit
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
- Driving licence cancellation
Public Sector or Armed Forces Pension Schemes
- War pension cancellation
How to use the service
After you have registered the death with us, the Registrar will provide you with a unique reference number that will let you access the Tell Us Once service online via GOV.UK to complete in your own time.
If you have been issued with a Coroners Fact of Death (Interim Death Certificate) you can use the service and the Registrar will advise you how to do so.
Important information
- Before using the Tell us Once service, you will need permission from the next of kin, the executor, the administrator and anyone who was claiming benefits or entitlements jointly with the person who died.
- There is no need to follow-up contact after you have used Tell Us Once unless you don’t receive a confirmation from the relevant department after a reasonable period of time, in most cases a calendar month.
- Once the various agencies informed by Tell Us Once have received notification of the death, they will contact you only if necessary.
- You will need to notify non-government agencies, such as banks, utility companies and commercial organisations, directly about the deceased. The 'Tell us once' service is only for government agencies and cannot arrange for redirection of post for these organisations.