Tell Us Once Service: What Executors Need to Know in England

The first week after a death involves a jarring volume of administrative tasks on top of grief. Tell Us Once is the government's attempt to simplify one part of that process — and when it works, it saves executors hours of phone calls. But it does not cover everything, and failing to understand its limits creates real problems later.

Here is a practical breakdown of what Tell Us Once does, how to use it, and what still falls on you.

What Tell Us Once Is

Tell Us Once is a free government service that lets you notify multiple central and local government departments about a death in a single step. Instead of calling the DWP, DVLA, HMRC, and your local council separately, you use a single reference number provided at the death registration appointment to complete a digital or phone-based notification.

The service is available in England, Scotland, and Wales. Northern Ireland has a separate system.

How to Access It

The registrar will offer the Tell Us Once reference number when you register the death. You can use it online at GOV.UK or by phone. The reference is valid for 28 days from the date of registration — if you miss that window, you will need to contact each agency individually.

You should register the death as promptly as possible. In England, there is a five-day statutory deadline from the moment the Medical Examiner confirms the cause of death (a reform implemented in September 2024). Weekends and bank holidays count. If the death was sudden or unexplained and referred to a coroner, death registration is delayed until the coroner releases the body — meaning Tell Us Once is also delayed.

Which Agencies Tell Us Once Notifies

When you use Tell Us Once, the following are automatically informed:

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP): This is the most time-critical notification. The DWP will immediately halt state pension payments, attendance allowance, personal independence payment, and other DWP benefits. If these payments continue after death because notification was delayed, they will be classed as overpayments and must be repaid from the estate. The DWP can pursue this aggressively.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC): HMRC is notified for income tax and personal tax records. This is a notification only — it does not replace the executor's obligation to file a final tax return for the deceased's income, or to submit inheritance tax reporting if required. Those are separate processes.

DVLA: The deceased's driving licence is cancelled and vehicle tax is ended. The registered keeper records are updated.

Passport Office: The deceased's passport is cancelled.

Local council: For Council Tax adjustments, Housing Benefit, and any council-administered discounts or support payments. Each council processes this differently.

Veterans UK: If the deceased received a war pension or guaranteed income payment.

Defence Business Services: For armed forces pension recipients.

The Electoral Register: The deceased's name is removed from voter rolls.

What Tell Us Once Does Not Cover

This is where executors get caught out. Tell Us Once is a notification service only. It does not take any action on your behalf, and it does not contact the following:

Banks and financial institutions. Every bank, building society, and investment platform must be contacted separately. You will need official death certificates — buy multiple copies at registration, as each institution typically requires an original or certified copy. Obtaining additional certified copies later is slower and more expensive.

HM Land Registry. If property was held in joint names, you need to file Form DJP separately. If property was solely owned or held as tenants in common, the Land Registry is updated as part of the probate process, not through Tell Us Once.

Pension providers (private and workplace). Private pension schemes, occupational pension administrators, and annuity providers must all be contacted individually. Each has its own bereavement notification process and timeline for processing death benefits.

Life insurance companies. Tell Us Once does not notify insurers.

NS&I (National Savings and Investments). Premium bonds, savings certificates, and ISAs at NS&I require separate notification via their dedicated bereavement process.

Utilities, subscriptions, and direct debits. Mobile phone contracts, broadband, TV licences, streaming services, magazine subscriptions — all must be cancelled individually.

HMRC for executor tax obligations. Tell Us Once notifies HMRC about the death of the individual. It does not file the deceased's final tax return, submit an IHT400, or inform HMRC of the executor's own tax position.

Bereavement Support Payment: Act Quickly

Tell Us Once triggers an invitation to claim Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) from the DWP, but this is not automatic. You must actively apply.

BSP is available to a surviving spouse or civil partner whose partner was under state pension age at the time of death. The payment has two rates:

• Higher rate: A £3,500 lump sum plus £350 per month for 18 months — for those who were entitled to Child Benefit, or who were pregnant at the time of the death.
• Standard rate: A £2,500 lump sum plus £100 per month for 18 months.

The deadline matters significantly. Claims made within three months of the death receive the full lump sum and all 18 monthly payments. Claims made later still receive the lump sum (up to 12 months after death), but the number of monthly payments reduces accordingly. After 21 months, the right to claim BSP expires entirely.

After You Use Tell Us Once

Once notifications are sent, keep a record of the confirmation — you may need to reference it if DWP or HMRC later questions whether they were informed. Then turn your attention to the tasks Tell Us Once does not cover:

1. Contact each financial institution individually to notify of the death and request the date-of-death balance for estate valuation.
2. Request each bank's specific probate threshold — the maximum it will release without a Grant of Probate.
3. Begin gathering valuations for any property in the estate.
4. Obtain the original will (if one exists) and confirm whether a Grant of Probate is required.

The England Probate Process Guide includes a structured notification checklist covering both Tell Us Once and the institutions it does not reach, so nothing falls through the cracks in the first critical weeks.

Common Mistakes

Using Tell Us Once and assuming banks have been notified. They have not. This leads to ongoing direct debits being processed, accounts accruing charges, and delayed account freezes that complicate estate valuation.

Not buying enough death certificates. The standard advice is to order at least six to eight at registration. Each costs around £11. Ordering them later through the General Register Office is slower (weeks, not days).

Missing the BSP deadline. The service sends the notification, but the claim must be actively filed. Many surviving spouses are unaware the payment exists at all.

Assuming HMRC's final tax obligations are satisfied. Tell Us Once notifies HMRC of the death, but the executor still needs to ensure the deceased's final income tax return is filed and any PAYE reconciliation is completed. This is a separate process, and delays can result in the estate being held open longer than necessary.

Tell Us Once is a useful starting point — not a complete solution. The executor's administrative job begins, rather than ends, with that reference number.

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