Tell us once
Tell Us Once is a free voluntary service offered by HM Government. When someone has died there are lots of things that need to be done. Tell Us Once enables you to report a death only once, telling central and local government services securely and confidentially without you having to inform them individually.
Many different services can be notified of the death and these include:
- the local council - to update services and to remove the person from the Electoral Register
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - to deal with personal tax and to update regarding Child Benefit and Tax Credits claims (contact HMRC separately for business taxes, like VAT)
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to update benefits information e.g. State Pension, Universal Credit
- passport office - to cancel a british passport
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - to cancel a driving licence and to remove registered keeper details, possibly for up to five vehicles
- public sector or armed forces pension schemes - to update pension records
Please note: commercial organisations will not be notified of the death.
How to use the service
After you have registered the death with the Registrar they will provide you with a reference number which will enable you to access the service on the Gov.UK website.
If you have been issued with a Coroners Fact of Death (Interim Death Certificate) you may still be able to use the service and the Registrar will advise you how to do so.
It will be beneficial to have all the relevant information about the person before using this service:
- date of birth
- address of the deceased
- National Insurance number
- driving licence number
- vehicle registration number
- passport number
You will also need:
- details of any benefits or entitlements they were receiving, e.g. State Pension, Universal Credit
- details of any local council services they were receiving, e.g. Adult Social services, Blue Badge, travel pass
- the name and address of their next of kin
- the name and address of any surviving spouse or civil partner
- the name, address and contact details of the person/company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money)
- details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were getting or paying into
Please note: permission is required from the next of kin, executor, the administrator and anyone who was claiming benefits or entitlements jointly with the person who died, before you give their details.
What happens next?
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 this would be one calendar month.
Once the various agencies informed by Tell Us Once have received notification of the death, they will make any further contact if necessary with the bereaved family.
Further information
Tell Us Once is not a claim to benefit, please contact Gov.UK or the relevant department for any further advice.
A short video explaining the Tell Us Once process can be found on the DWP YouTube channel.