Bereavement - change name on energy account

LarryR

Hi

Unfortunately, my dad died about a month ago and we are going through the admin process of informing companies and utilities. One is the energy company with which the account was in my dad's name and we now need to switch to be in my mum's - the question is will this be treated as a new account? This would be less than ideal, as my dad had setup the account on quite a good fixed tariff, which a 'new customer ' wouldn't get. Will they get funny about the transfer or is this just a normal thing for them?

Thanks

Alnat1

Ring and ask to speak to the bereavement team, you'll get to talk with someone used to dealing with this situation. They should be able to switch the account into your mum's name.

molerat

The alternative is not to tell them.  If you have on line access to the account and the bank account is staying the same then why try to put their incompetence to the test.

Alnat1

That works but I know from experience with mum-in-law that it can be upsetting to keep on getting mail addressed to a deceased partner/spouse. The utility companies are used to dealing with the situation and it's not a problem. Same changes might be needed for water, council tax, broadband/phone etc.

macman

You can change the bank account on the DD without changing the name on the account. If you change the name it will probably be treated as a new account on SVT under the price cap.

Ectophile

Go with the advice from Alnat1.  When my dad died a few years ago, the utility companies simply transferred all the accounts to my mum's name.  No fuss, and no new contracts.

LarryR

Quick update - I rang EDF today and asked them - hypothetically - what would happen in this situation, and they said the account is simply transferred over to the new name with no affect on the tariff. So I went ahead with it. Phew! Thanks for your replies and help, people