Notify organisations and departments of the death

After you register the death, you will need to notify many organisations and departments. You can do this by using the government's Tell Us Once service.

You can also use Life Ledger. This service is also free and will allow you to notify a number of financial institutions (banks, building societies etc) and utility companies of a person's death at the same time.

Tell us once

Tell Us Once is a service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go. You must use the service within 28 days of getting your unique reference number. So please use this service as promptly as possible.

How it works

When you use Tell Us Once, many services can be notified – for example:

  • Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) – to cancel a driving licence and to remove the person as the keeper for up to 5 vehicles
  • HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – to deal with personal tax (you need to contact HMRC separately for business taxes, like VAT)
  • Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – to cancel benefits

British Sign Language version

What you need to do

When you have registered the death, you will be advised by the registrar what you need to do next and how to use the Tell Us Once service.

You can contact Tell Us Once yourself by either:

Our bereavement services

We can provide you with support and advice for:

  • funeral arrangements, including local funeral directors, cremations, burial costs, cemetery plot fees and memorials
  • cemetery and burial ground records

For more information, see our bereavement services. 

Financial and utility notification services

In addition to using the Tell Us Once service, you can also use Life Ledger. This service is free and will allow you to notify a number of financial institutions (banks, building societies etc) and utility companies of a person's death at the same time.

Find out more about Life Ledger services: Life Ledger is a free, easy-to-use death notification service