BT bereavement dept hints? 5 February at 4:45PM in Deaths, funerals & probate 7 replies 531 views

bunnygo

I was the authorised deputy for the account, but the time is coming when changes are needed that are beyond what a deputy is allowed to do. Hence have to tell BT that the account holder is no longer with us. Bills have of course continued to be paid and there's a grant of probate if needed.

spouse still resident so it is ESSENTIAL that phone and broadband continue and we don't lose the number. The mobile is also provided by BT.

I would like to continue as deputy (have an EPA if that will help) so I can manage all this. Ideally would also like to retain the BT email address, although everything in it is backed up so if they refuse it's not too bad. And yes I do know the password so the email has been kept active, a lot of the estate process would have been very difficult without that. (People - make sure you leave a note of your passwords!)

have seen a lot of disaster stories - does anyone have recent experience of this process please? Any hints on the right phrasing to stop them messing up would be appreciated, especially as this will be done from a distance. Thank you!

Keep_pedalling

Your deputyship ended on the day he/ she died. Any new contract will need to be arranged by the spouse unless you have POA or deputyship for them as well.

p00hsticks

Not that recent (november 2020) but I simply phoned up the bereavement department shortly after the death to inform them and say that I wanted to take over the account. They took my contact details and payment method, The landline phone number and broadband was unaffected, but there was no linked mobile and e-mail address so I can't comment on that bit. I think I was given a new account number and had to set up a new online BT ID to manage the account online but there was no interuption to service.

bunnygo

thanks both - I do indeed have an EPA so hopefully BT will recognise that. As long as they don't mess up the landline and broadband, that's all I really ask.

rancid-a

Hi all. @bunnygo. I had to contact them a couple of weeks ago, via online, but it was for a slightly different scenario. I wanted them to cancel my late Mother's broadband & landline account. They said they would sent a final bill. Mum took a new contact out with them in June so I has half expecting them to make us pay for the unused months. They sent an envelope to return their equipment and then a week or so later, the final bill arrived...49p

Fingers crossed it all works out for you bunnygo.

Gers

When my DM died in May 2021 I kept the broadband / phone number until July when the house was cleared. BT just changed the account name to mine and I paid the the usual fee by DD from my account. Then I cancelled it all - the bereavement department was excellent.

Even now my DM's email address still works, no idea how!

BooJewels

My experience was much the same as @Gers - kept the broadband and phone going for a while as I was using them when I stayed to clear the place, then let them go, but wanted to keep Dad's email address for a while (it was needed to access some accounts) and they were going to charge me a small fee for doing so, but never did and in fact I've had 2 emails to it today - so it still seems to be working.  I perhaps should cancel it properly now.  There was some shenanigans in trying to get equipment back to them - but that was handled by a different department who just couldn't grasp that I wasn't living at the property - I think they sent a bag to put the gear in, then sent a courier to collect it 3 days later - which was pointless as I wasn't there and the envelope was still in the letterbox - awaiting me.

Just had to take over managing another account for an elderly family member under an LPA and they have been equally obliging with that one too - in fact very sensible and pragmatic about how we set things up.

bunnygo

thanks for the support, everyone. Relieved to say that it seems to have gone smoothly. It did help that BT already knew about me as the account deputy, so they could text me a PIN code to prove who I was. No request for probate grant or death certificate.

I phoned the bereavement line first, got the account name changed and they gave me an email for the power of attorney team. Emailed across scans (it's an EPA so no access code) and got a call back within an hour from a sympathetic person who confirmed all details. They asked me to leave it a few days for the systems to update, and I now have 'account manager' status on the account. No service interruption which was the most important thing. The BT email is still there, although it is now fully backed up on gmail so less worried about that. (Gmail has a fabulous system which imports emails from the inbox of another account, it is our family correspondence archive so wanted to keep it)

The mobile also seems to be ok and I can even see the IMEI and handset type on the account, which is useful. I'll check full details when I get the bill, which I had to reset to online once I discovered paper costs more.

As you've probably realised, the deceased account holder was one of my parents so it is a big relief that the service continues unchanged for the other. Can't fault the BT staff on this one.