Bereavement is a terrible thing, which can consume your daily life. Many organisations need to be told about a death and giving the same information again and again can be unnecessarily painful. At a time like this we understand that you don’t want to have to keep telling different services that your loved one has passed away. This is why we have set up a new service called Tell Us Once.
Whether it is a government department or council service we can inform them for you. You can use Tell Us Once when you register the death with us or talk directly to the Department of Work and Pensions by telephone once the registration is complete.
What you need to do
By law you have to register the death. We advise you to call us to make an appointment to do this. You can decide if you would like to use the Tell Us Once service at the registration. Remember to bring all relevant information you have been asked to take, this will save time at a later date. Once you have registered the death and decided to use the service we can inform the organisations for you.
Who will we tell?
We will only give your details to the organisations who need to know. You will be told exactly who we will tell in your meeting, you will also have a choice whether we let some services know on your behalf.
Government departments we can inform:
• Department for Work and Pensions: The Pension, Disability and Carers Service, Jobcentre Plus
• HM Revenue and Customs: Child Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit, Personal Taxation
• Identity and Passport service
• Housing Benefit Office
• Council Tax Benefit Office
• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
The following council services can be informed if you ask us to:
• Council housing
• Council tax
• Libraries
• Blue badges
• Adult social services
• Children’s services
• Council payments office
• Electoral services
What to bring
If you would like to use the service please bring the following to the appointment:
Deceased’s National Insurance Number
Deceased’s surviving husband, wife or civil partner’s National Insurance, or the next of kin’s National Insurance Number
Next of kin’s name address and telephone number
Information about any benefits and services the deceased may have had/used (see the check list of who we notify)
Driving Licence/Driving Licence Number (if held), Passport/Passport Number (if held) and Blue Badge (if held)
Name and address of the person dealing with the deceased’s estate (if different)
Download our Tell Us Once leaflet for full details on the service.
If you choose not to use Tell Us Once with the registrar you can still do this at a later date. Call the Department for Work Pensions on 0800 0 85 73 08. Lines are open 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday.
Southampton City Council
