Tell Us Once: reporting a death to government in one go

Last checked November 2026. Offers and rules change: confirm with the provider before you rely on them.

Tell Us Once is a free government service that lets you report a death to most government departments and your local council in one go, instead of contacting each separately. It covers people who lived in England, Scotland or Wales. Northern Ireland does not have Tell Us Once and uses a separate Bereavement Service.

How it works

Register the death. See registering a death. The registrar explains Tell Us Once and gives you a unique reference number.
Use the number within 28 days. GOV.UK says the reference number expires after 28 days and the registrar may not be able to issue a new one. If that happens you would have to contact each organisation yourself.
Go online or phone. You can use the service on GOV.UK or by telephone; the registrar gives you the number. Some register offices will go through it with you at the appointment.
Choose which organisations to tell. You can only use the service once for each death, so gather the details first.

You do not have to send a death certificate to the organisations Tell Us Once contacts. That alone saves a good deal of posting and waiting.

Who it tells

At the time of writing (November 2026), GOV.UK lists these:

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – to deal with personal tax and cancel benefits and credits it pays
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – to stop State Pension, Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance and other benefits
Passport Office – to cancel a British passport
DVLA – to cancel a driving licence and update its vehicle records
The local council – for Housing Benefit, Council Tax, a Blue Badge, council housing and the electoral register
Veterans UK – for Armed Forces pensions and compensation payments
Social Security Scotland – for benefits it pays, where relevant
Some public sector pension schemes – including Armed Forces, Civil Service, NHS (England and Wales), Local Government and Scottish public service pensions

What to have ready

GOV.UK says you need the Tell Us Once reference number, the person's surname and the date they died. Depending on what applied to them, you will also be asked for:

their National Insurance number
their UK passport number and place of birth
their driving licence number and any vehicle registration numbers
their Blue Badge number
details of benefits, State Pension and council services they were receiving
details of any public sector or Armed Forces pension
the name, address and contact details of a surviving spouse or civil partner, the next of kin and the executor or person dealing with the estate. You need their permission to pass on their details.
if they died in a hospital, care home or hospice, its name and address, and whether they had been there for 28 days or longer

Tip: This is exactly the information that a "what my family will need" folder holds. See organising your paperwork for how to put one together.

What Tell Us Once does not do

It only reaches the public bodies listed. You still need to contact:

banks, building societies and credit card companies
private and workplace pension providers
insurers (life, home, car, travel, pet), and any funeral plan provider
the mortgage lender or landlord
gas, electricity, water, phone and broadband companies
TV Licensing, especially if there was a free licence in the person's name
the Office of the Public Guardian, if there was a lasting power of attorney

GOV.UK also points out that Tell Us Once does not sort out your own benefits. If your entitlement changes because of the death, contact the office that pays you. And if the person kept a vehicle that you are going to keep or sell, you need to tell DVLA about that separately.

Watch out: If you shared a home, things like the car insurance, the TV licence and the energy account may have been in the name of the person who died. Ask each company to move the account into your name rather than close it, so you are not left uninsured or without a supply. A surviving partner living alone can also claim the 25% single person discount on Council Tax: see Council Tax Reduction.

Northern Ireland

GOV.UK confirms there is no Tell Us Once service in Northern Ireland. Instead:

The Bereavement Service, run by the Department for Communities, takes reports of the death of anyone who was receiving social security benefits, State Pension or Pension Credit. It tells each office that paid a benefit, and checks at the same time whether you can claim Bereavement Support Payment or help with funeral costs. See the Bereavement Service on nidirect.
You will need the person's date of birth, date of death, National Insurance number and details of the benefits they received.
Other bodies, such as the passport and driving licence offices, HMRC and Land and Property Services for rates, need to be told separately. The registrar and nidirect can tell you how.

Our guide for over-60s in Northern Ireland covers other ways the system differs there.

If the person lived abroad

GOV.UK says you can use Tell Us Once if the person normally lived in England, Scotland or Wales and died while abroad temporarily, for example on holiday. You cannot use it if they had moved abroad permanently; in that case each organisation has to be contacted directly.

Common questions

Does it cost anything?

No. It is free. Be wary of any website that charges to notify organisations of a death.

Who can use it?

The person who registered the death is given the reference number, and can use the service or pass the number to someone else, such as the executor, to do it.

What happens to the State Pension already paid?

DWP works out whether anything is owed to the estate or has been overpaid, and writes to the person dealing with the estate. See bereavement benefits for what a surviving partner may be able to claim.