Mum has just passed - confused about utility bills etc while the house is still under her name

martin2345uk

Thank you so much everyone. When I go to the house today I will take meter readings and try to find out who the house is insured with... which will be a challenge in itself I am sure.  I have another unrelated question - I figure it's best to start a new topic for that? I am not too sure of the etiquette. If I'm wrong do let me know. Thank you again x

Robin9

Start a new thread with your unrelated question.

getmore4less

Often best to keep one thread going for a single estate

 think you can change title to reflect it may be more than just utility.

Doshwaster

martin2345uk said:

Thank you so much everyone. When I go to the house today I will take meter readings and try to find out who the house is insured with... which will be a challenge in itself I am sure.  I have another unrelated question - I figure it's best to start a new topic for that? I am not too sure of the etiquette. If I'm wrong do let me know. Thank you again x

A couple of tips for the days and weeks ahead

When approaching banks, insurers, utilities etc find out from their website what their bereavement support telephone number is - most will have one - that way you get through to someone specially trained rather than having to deal with the usual numpties in call centres.

Keep records of everything. Dealing with a recent death means than there will be a lot of paperwork from a lot of organisations and it's easy to lose track of what you are doing.  

martin2345uk

I took the meter readings yesterday and I am just telling her home insurance, OneCall. Annoyingly they don't seem to have a phone number at all so I have had to do it all over their live chat function which isn't ideal. They took my details. I can't even type about this without getting upset :-(

They asked me how I wish to proceed with the policy?? What am I meant to say to that... I said I don't know and that I was just told I need to make them aware as the property will be empty for a while now, and he said okay he will let their bereavement team know and they will give me call at some point to talk about it.

This is so hard 

martin2345uk

Actually I do have a related question. If all these companies need to see a copy of the death certificate, and it is illegal to copy one, I assume that means it's also illegal to scan it, so does this mean you can ONLY ever show these companies the certificate by physically sending it in the post??

JGB1955

I got 5 (official) copies of the death certificate, numbered them on the back, and kept a log of whom I had posted them to, and when they were returned.  Some companies returned the same day, others took weeks...

martin2345uk

Ok. I have initially ordered 3 online, but clearly that won't be enough, so when I register the death this afternoon I will ask the registrar how to get another 2 copies.

p00hsticks

martin2345uk said:

Actually I do have a related question. If all these companies need to see a copy of the death certificate, and it is illegal to copy one, I assume that means it's also illegal to scan it, so does this mean you can ONLY ever show these companies the certificate by physically sending it in the post??

I've never heard about it being illegal to copy them - I think you may have got the wrong end of the stick there ?

It's been a year since I had to do this now, so i can't remember which companies wanted what, but to my recollection some wanted me to send an official copy by post (which they promptly returned), some just took my word about the death (I think after a few months some government bodies like the Probate Office can just check the records themselves), at least one asked me to give them the number on the top right of (an offical copy of) the death certificate and at least one asked me to scan and upload a copy.

I know I initially requested six copies when registering the death as l thought I'd need to send a lot off but in fact I don;t think I ever needed that many at once....

Mojisola

martin2345uk said:

Actually I do have a related question. If all these companies need to see a copy of the death certificate, and it is illegal to copy one, I assume that means it's also illegal to scan it, so does this mean you can ONLY ever show these companies the certificate by physically sending it in the post??

No, it isn't - but most organisations either want to see an official copy of the register or a certified copy of an official one.