.I wrote a rather long Blog today regarding what to do when someone passes away and some information I have found.
** Please note this information below is for guidance purposes only and that neither I myself or ES Invites &Occasions will be held responsible for information supplied being correct or up to date.
When someone has passed away, your mind races ten to the dozen and you know there is a whole list of people besides friends and family that will need to be informed
Births Deaths & Marriage office TV License Bank Council Tax Department Works & Pension Tax Office HMRC Gas Company Electricity Company Telephone Company Water Company Share Companies Library Local County Council (Bus Pass)
These above are a some to name but a few
DEATH CERTIFICATES.
Nowadays you need to ring the local area registry office for an appointment to register a death. Be mindful, some areas are broken down within the area and so you may have to travel further.
An example of this was when my mother passed away and was residing in a care home in Hayling Island, although my nearest two registry offices are Chichester and Portsmouth. However, because she passed away in Hampshire, I needed to go to Fareham to record the death, due to the fact Hayling Island comes under Hampshire County Council not Portsmouth.
I also know from previous experiences or sorting a funeral, that it is advisable to get a minimum of 6-10 death certificates at the time of registering. Then when you are sending certificates off you can send to more places in one go whilst you wait for originals to be returned to you.
**NOTE it does cost more to get duplicate certificates after registering.
Remember most places require a certified certificate and will NOT accept a photocopies of death certificates.
You will need certain paperwork from the hospital or coroner as well to take with you to register the death and also to the funeral directors. (form 100A or 100B)
The link below tells you more about this.
(I had used the answers of Death occurring in England, Died elsewhere (away from home) & Unexpected death)
Outcome - Register a death - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
TELLING MULTIPLE AGENCIES.
Since 2012 the government undertook a new service called the “TELL US ONCE” service.
Tell Us Once is a service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go. You will be given a unique number when you star this process.
See link below
(The information below is taken from the link)
The Tell Us Once service is not available in Northern Ireland. Find out who to tell about a death in Northern Ireland.
Organisations Tell Us Once will contact
Tell Us Once will notify:
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - to deal with personal tax and to cancel benefits and credits, for example Child Benefit and tax credits (you need to contact HMRC separately for business taxes, like VAT)Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to cancel benefits and entitlements, for example Universal Credit or State Pension
Passport Office - to cancel a British passport
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - to cancel a licence, remove the person as the keeper of up to 5 vehicles and end the vehicle tax (you must contact DVLA separately if you either sell the vehicle or keep it and tax it in your own name)
The local council - to cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction (sometimes called Council Tax Support), a Blue Badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
Veterans UK - to cancel or update Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
HMRC and DWP will contact you about the tax, benefits and entitlements of the person who died. Tell Us Once will also contact some public sector pension schemes so that they cancel future pension payments. They’ll notify:
My Civil Service Pension
NHS Pensions for NHS staff in England and Wales
Armed Forces Pension Scheme
Scottish Public Pension Agency schemes for NHS staff, teachers, police and firefighters in Scotland
Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) that participate in Tell Us Once
There’s a different process to update property records if the person who died owns land or property.
How to use Tell Us Once
A registrar will explain the Tell Us Once service when you register the death. They will either:
complete the Tell Us Once service with you give you a unique reference number so you can use the service yourself online or by phone The registrar will give you a number to call. This includes a video relay service for British Sign Language (BSL) users and Relay UK if you cannot hear or speak on the phone. You must use the service within 28 days of getting your unique reference number.
If you cannot register the death because an inquest is underway, you can still ask a registrar for a unique reference number. You’ll need to get an interim death certificate from the coroner holding the inquest first.
Before You Use Tell Us Once
You’ll need the Tell Us Once reference number that you got from the registrar.
You’ll also need the following details of the person who died:
Name Date of birth Address Date they died Name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money), known as their ‘executor’ or ‘administrator’
If there’s a surviving spouse or civil partner, the name, address, telephone number and the National Insurance number or date of birth of the spouse or civil partner
If there’s no surviving spouse or civil partner or their spouse or civil partner is not able to deal with their affairs, the name and address of their next of kin
If they died in a hospital, nursing home, care home or hospice, the name and address of that institution - you’ll also be asked if the stay was for 28 days or more
You may also need:
If they had a passport, their passport number and town of birth. If they had a driving licence, their driving licence number. If they owned any vehicles, the vehicle registration numbers.
If they were getting services from their local council, such as housing benefit payments or council tax reductions, the name of their local council and which services they were getting. If they were getting any benefits, tax credits or state pension, information about which ones they were getting.
If they were getting money from an armed forces pension or compensation scheme, details of that scheme.
If they were getting money or paying into public sector pension schemes, details of those schemes
If they were getting money or paying into local government pension schemes (lgps), details of those schemes and their national insurance number. Unless they were involved in a (lgps), you do not need their national insurance number. If you can still provide it though, it will help some organisations match their records faster.
**Please Note You need permission from any surviving spouse or civil partner, the next of kin, executor, administrator, or anyone who was claiming joint benefits or entitlements with the person who died before you give their details.
INFORMING THE BANK
This is something I am often asked by families, and they panic for various reasons.
I spoke to Barclays (my personal Bank) I explained to them that families often ask me about informing the bank but are concerned, mainly because often, there is funds in the account to pay for a funeral, or it is a joint account.
When someone passes away you are required to inform the bank. The main reason for this is to limit any fraudulent activity on the account. The bank cannot stop any direct debits on your behalf until they are made aware.
Barclays told me that if it is a joint account then they need a death certificate and then they will change the account to a single account and will not need to freeze the account so the surviving partner can still access the account and carry on as usual.
If it is a sole account, then they will freeze the account and stop any direct debits from being collected from the account. Again, they will need a death certificate.
However, if you need access to the account to pay for items such as Funeral Costs, Flowers, wake (service afterwards) then as long as you provide them with an invoice showing what the funds are for then they will arrange payment for these from the account or their estate as it now know as so those items will be paid.
For information I found on Barclays website see link below.
Mobile Phone
If like my late wife, she had a monthly contract phone and had also recorded a voicemail for her answerphone message.
I spoke to EE and informed them that she had passed away. They said they will de register the number from her so it can be used by someone else.
I asked about the voice message and asked if it would still be there. They told me No it would be wiped.
So what can you do??
Like me I wasn’t sure about letting go as at the time I got comfort from being able to hear her voice. Something yourselves may like a little a little later on, to be able to hear your loved one’s voice again.
What EE said, was to make the phone number Pay as you Go. Then that way, you don’t need to put any credit on to the phone, however the voicemail message will still be there. This way you won’t be paying a monthly contract and you have peace of mind to of being able to hear a voice and also no one will have that number.
I hope you have found this useful.
** Please note this information below is for guidance purposes only and that neither I myself or ES Invites &Occasions will be held responsible for information supplied being correct or up to date.
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