My dad passed suddenly, I would be ever so grateful if anyone can help with any advice

TripleH

You gave my sympathies. I lost my father 2 years ago unexpectedly.

In addition to above, credit cards may well get closed as well if your father was the main card holder.

Your mum may well have to initially speak to someone to authorise them to talk to you.

I would do a list and amend as you finish jobs to help keep track of things.

Always ask for the bereavement teams when ringing an organisation.

You will feel numb at times. It took me a year to grasp that he had died. I kept waking up and thinking it was all a joke (a very poor one I admit even for him).

Even when you ring, things will take time to change details, advise your mum to not get upset even if she receives post addressed to him especially from organisations you've contacted. It can take 3 months, but after then prompt them again.

Jude57

@katies_mum I'm sorry for your loss. I agree with the other posters that keeping a note of everything you do is really useful especially given that this is a difficult time for you, too.

I know that the Tell Us Once service should cover this, but I'm a belt & braces person. If your mum is now the only occupant of her home, she'll need to claim Single Person Discount on her Council Tax. I'd look on the Council's website to see if you can do that online, otherwise give them a call and get it rolling. If you don't know about it, it's not means tested, it's based purely on being the only occupant and at 25%, is a discount that's well worth having.

Also, once you've had time to sort everything out, it would be worth running your mum's circumstances through entitledto.co.uk to make sure she's claiming all the benefits help she's eligible for.

I'd also recommend having a look at the water company's website to see whether your mum can claim a discount on her water rates. They don't publicise these but they are available and it's worth a look in case she qualifies.

Finally, get mum put on the priority register with the utility companies. I'm on it and they email or text me about any interruptions to services, upcoming work in my area etc. During lockdown they sent lots of useful information on local sources of help. You could of course give your number and email address for contact.

KxMx

Just a note of caution on water rates, sometimes the discounted plans only work out cheaper if you use lots of water, and that's not always listed on the websites.
I only found out we were on the incorrect plan while researching bills for a place of my own.

It's actually worked out cheaper for us on standard tariff compared to the Aquacare Plus plan that we were on. 

Teapot55

Sorry for your loss @katies_mum

One little thing that hasn’t been mentioned that is useful is when you write in your notebook make a note of the phone number you use to ring each company or organisation. That way, if for some reason you have to ring them again you’ll have the number handy. 

BooJewels

@KxMx - I'd concur - I did this recently too and found that the general tariff I was on was a chunk cheaper than the single occupancy tariff - which also required me to have a water meter, which I don't. 

@Teapot55 - thanks for posting that - something was niggling at my mind to mention when I said about asking for direct numbers and that was it - if you write the number with your date, as I do, cross it out or amend it if you find it wasn't the best number. It's surprising how many published numbers have simply changed or don't work any more.

p00hsticks

Teapot55 said:

Sorry for your loss @katies_mum

One little thing that hasn’t been mentioned that is useful is when you write in your notebook make a note of the phone number you use to ring each company or organisation. That way, if for some reason you have to ring them again you’ll have the number handy. 

Agreed - also the relevant account number / customer reference number / policy number etc, as this is usually the first thing they ask for (you might even have to enter it before you actually get to sepak to a human!)

CustardApple

katies_mum said:

Thank you so much for replying,  I have a notebook and have started to make a list of all the companies but hadn`t thought about making notes each time I do anything, that's really great advice.  As soon as I have death certificates was going to start with the bank, life ins and pensions.   Thank you will check about the state pension, dad was 86 and mum is 85, currently she gets a small government pension as didn`t pay a lot of NI or work a lot when she was younger.

Please might you know if dad had set up direct debits in his name from their joint account will they just transfer to mum? or is it dependent on the bank 

I am sorry about your loss

Make sure you have a backup copy of everything that you have on your notebook - the last thing you want is for the drive to crash to add to your problems. 

I would buy 2 flash drives and back on both - leave one at your mom's house and take one with out every time you leave

CustardApple

p00hsticks said:

Teapot55 said:

Sorry for your loss @katies_mum

One little thing that hasn’t been mentioned that is useful is when you write in your notebook make a note of the phone number you use to ring each company or organisation. That way, if for some reason you have to ring them again you’ll have the number handy. 

Agreed - also the relevant account number / customer reference number / policy number etc, as this is usually the first thing they ask for (you might even have to enter it before you actually get to sepak to a human!)

Date also might be helpful

BooJewels

I think by 'notebook' we were talking about paper and pencil.  At least I was.

comeandgo

My condolences to you.  Did your dad have a car with insurance in his name?  Contact the insurance company and they should put it in someone else’s name for a month to allow you time to give it away or sell car.