When someone dies, partners, next of kin and families have to deal with their loss and inform lots of government departments. The Department of Work and Pensions Tell Us Once service (TUO) is available online 24 / 7 to help deal with informing all local and national government departments so families can concentrate on other affairs.
How to access the service
A death must be registered with the registrar before you can use the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Tell Us Once (TUO) service. The registrar will give you a unique reference number and full details of how to access and use the service. You can use the TUO service up to 28 days after the death has been registered by contacting the DWP directly:
You will need the death certificate showing the deceased's full name and date of death and the TUO unique reference number to use the service.
TUO is not available where a death has taken place outside of the UK.
A Tell Us Once Easy Read guide and step by step guide of what to do after someone dies is available on the gov.uk website.
How the service can help you
When someone has died, their death needs to be registered with the registrar. Once that's done, several other organisations may have to be contacted and given the same information. We will provide a unique reference number to use the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Tell Us Once service and they can pass on this information to a number of other government departments and local council services for you.
What you will need to use the service
To make sure the DWP pass on the right information it will help to have the following information about the person who has died:
- Their national insurance number and date of birth
- Details of any benefits and local council services they were getting (for example: the state pension or a blue badge)
- Their death certificate
- Their driving licence or driving licence number
- Their passport or passport number and town / country of birth
They will also ask you for the contact details for:
- Their next of kin
- a surviving husband, wife or civil partner
- the name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money), known as their ‘executor’ or ‘administrator’
You must have the permission of the persons listed above if you are going to provide DWP with information about them.
What happens to the information
If you decide to use this service, the DWP will be able to tell the following organisations on your behalf:
- Department for Work and Pensions
- The Pension, Disability and Carers Service
- Jobcentre Plus
- Overseas Health Team
- Ministry of Defence, Service Personnel and Veterans Agency
- War Pensions Scheme
- HM Revenue & Customs
- Child Benefit
- Child Tax Credit & Working Tax Credit
- Personal Taxation
- Local Councils
- Housing Benefit Office
- Council Tax Benefit Office
* Registrars have a statutory responsibility to inform Council Tax and Public Health of all deaths within their district on a weekly basis.
The Tell Us Once service can also inform the following organisations:
- Local Councils
- Council Housing
- Council Tax
- Libraries
- Blue badges / concessionary travel
- Adult services
- Children's services
- Collection of outstanding payments for council services
- Electoral services
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
- Passport service
After a death has been notified
Using Tell Us Once will tell the right parts of government so they can:
- work out final payments of benefits for the person who has died (including the state pension)
- make arrangements for income tax, national Insurance and council tax
- cancel the passport and / or driving licence of the person who has died (if you’ve provided this information)
- let local council services know so they can make arrangements about council housing and blue badge schemes
- make sure the person’s name is removed from the electoral register (also known as the electoral roll)
You may also need to inform banks, building societies and utilities of the death.
How the information you provide will be treated
The information you provide will be treated securely and confidentially. The organisations who are contacted will use the information to:
- update records
- end services and benefits as appropriate
- resolve any outstanding issues
They may use this information in other ways, but only as the law allows.
Where to find further information about TUO
Further information regarding this service can be found on the Tell Us Once pages of the gov website or by accessing the DWP Tell Us Once video.