Tell Us Once Service

Tell Us Once is a free government service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go, either online or by telephone. You will need a Tell Us Once unique reference number which your registrar will provide when you register the death (if your local authority offers this service) so that you can access it online or by phone. from the registrar when you register the death.

Visit the Tell Us Once website

Information you will need to provide

You’ll need the following details of the person who died:

date of birth
National Insurance number
driving licence number
passport number

You’ll also need:

details of any benefits or entitlements they were getting, eg State Pension
details of any local council services they were getting, eg Blue Badge
details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were getting
name and address of their next of kin
name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money), known as their ‘executor’ or ‘administrator’

You need permission from the next of kin, the executor, the administrator or anyone who was claiming joint benefits or entitlements with the person who died, before you give their details.

Organisations Tell Us Once will contact

Tell Us Once will notify:

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – to deal with tax and cancel benefits
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – to cancel benefits, eg income support
Passport Office – to cancel a passport
the local council – to cancel housing benefit, council tax benefit, a Blue Badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
public sector and armed formed pension schemes – to stop payments to the person who died and make payments to a dependant, if eligible

They will also tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to cancel the person’s driving licence. You’ll still need to send DVLA any registration certificates (V5C).

You’ll have to let the relevant organisations know about the death yourself if your local register office doesn’t offer the Tell Us Once service or you choose not to use it.

Tell Us Once isn’t available in Northern Ireland or if the person died abroad.