Anyone used Tell Us Once service?

bigpappa

So I have to plan for my fathers - he is not well and I am unsure if he will make out the month so I need to get his affairs in order.

I would be greateful for any advice.

He is married and lives with my mother in their only home, the only savings they have are in bank accounts - no other investments.

He has a state pension and company superannuation scheme pension, both parents are retired.

born_again

Worked just as expected when mother passed away.

Far better than spending hours on the phone to various government services.

YorksLass

I used it when my DH passed away in 2024 and found it very helpful at a stressful time. You will get a reference code and explanation sheet from the Registrar when you register the death; use this code when logging online to the Tell Us Once service and you'll find much of the information has already been filled in for you (eg name, address, date of death etc). NB: It doesn't cover things like utilities, private pensions etc - you will still have to make contact with these organisations yourself - but it does cover state pension/pension credit, anything to do with the council, blue badge scheme, HMRC etc.

YBR

Tell us once worked fine for us.

The biggest thing that helped after my father's death was having access to his computer passwords since he managed bills, insurances and suchlike online and we could therefore find the "paperwork".

NedS

There are a number of helpful lists available of things to do and when to do them, which you may find useful.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/what-to-do-when-someone-dies/

The Deaths, Funerals & Probate forum is also extremely helpful:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/deaths-funerals-probate

TimeLord1

I believe they're also located inside NHS hospitals; basically, it ends anything government-related. Pension, council tax, bus passes, TV licence I'm sure she mentioned and they also did copies of death certificates. I'm unsure if you paid for each copy, but it was less running around. Then it was just taking death certificates to sort funeral and banks basically speeds up solicitors because your doing some of their work manually.

bigpappa

Does the hospital issue death certificates?

TimeLord1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870646#Comment_81870646

It's the hospitals bereavement services they seem to have the facilities to do a lot of things in one go. But they email the registrar also now MCCD to obtain the final death certificate.

Tell Us Once notifies the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which then passes information to other departments like HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Passport Office, the DVLA, and local councils.

https://www.ashfordstpeters.nhs.uk/when-someone-has-died-in-hospital?hl=en-GB#:~:text=The%20Doctor%20who%20was%20treating,Bereavement%20Office%20at%20the%20hospital.

TimeLord1

The first time I saw this was when my mate's mum passed away in hospital. She literally did a load of stuff in minutes, just from fairly basic information. The only proof he had was her address, DOB, and N/I number. I was shocked seeing someone's lifetime switched off in a few keystrokes.

p00hsticks

 TV licence I'm sure she mentioned 

No, Tell Us Once won't cover TV licenses

TimeLord1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81871069#Comment_81871069

I believe they asked that because it was funded but she definitely asked if she had the free TV licence.