Tell Us Once
Helping you to tell government departments about a
death
What is ‘Tell Us Once’?
When someone dies, it can be a stressful and upsetting time. As
well as coping with the emotional distress that a death may bring,
you will need to notify a number of different government
departments and organisations. These could include council housing
departments, adult services, income support, libraries, driver and
vehicle licensing agencies and passport services for example.
In Kent and Bexley, a service called ‘Tell Us Once’ is available
which makes it easier for you to do this.
Tell Us Once reduces the amount of time you need to spend
contacting these government departments and organisations because
you provide all the information to the Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP) who then pass that information on to the people who
need to know.
How does it work?
When you call us to make your appointment to register the death,
the Tell Us Once service will be explained to you and you will be
asked if you wish to take part.
If you choose to take part, at the time of the registration the
Registrar will set up the deceased’s details on the Tell Us Once
national database. This usually takes around five minutes at the
end of the registration.
Once the details have been entered on to the national database,
a full Tell Us Once interview can then be carried out. This can be
done either face-to-face (with a Kent County Council Registrar) or
via the telephone (directly with the DWP) at a later date.
Many people find that the most convenient way to use the Tell Us
Once service is by telephone. Providing you have registered the
death and the deceased’s details have been added to the Tell Us
Once database by the Registrar, you can telephone the DWP and
provide details over the phone. The Registrar will give you the
telephone number before you leave.
- By face-to-face appointment
Alternatively, you can book a face-to-face Tell Us Once
appointment with one of our Registrars. This service is
offered across a number of Registration
Offices.
If you are registering the death in one of these
offices, it may be possible to have the Tell Us Once appointment
straight after the registration appointment so that you do not have
to return to the office at a later date or time. Please call 08458
247 400 to book an appointment in Kent or 08458 247 401 to book an
appointment in Bexley.
What information will I need to use Tell Us Once?
If you book a face-to-face Tell Us Once appointment, or if you
decide to use the telephone service, a member of staff will tell
you what information you need to provide in advance.
If I take part in Tell Us Once, what government departments and
organisations can be told about the death?
Tell Us Once can notify the following departments after you have
registered a death:
- Adult Social Services
- Attendance Allowance
- Blue Badge parking permit
- Child Benefit
- Child Tax Credit
- Children's services
- Council housing
- Council tax
- Council Tax Benefit
- Disability Living Allowance
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
- Electoral services
- Employment Support Allowance
- Housing Benefit
- Income Support
- Job Jobseeker's Allowance
- Library services
- Overseas Health Team
- Owe payments to council
- Passport Service
- Personal taxation
- Tax help for older people
- War pensions
scheme
- Working Tax Credit
Where applicable, Tell Us Once will pass details to these
departments on your behalf. The departments you choose to notify
will contact you directly if they need any more information to
process your change in circumstances.
Tell Us Once is a partnership between Kent County
Council, the London Borough of Bexley, Kent’s District
Councils and departments across Government.
For more information about registering a death and the Tell Us
Once service, please call 08458 247 400 for Kent enquiries and
08458 247 401 for Bexley enquiries.