A SERVICE offering bereaved families a free way to notify multiple companies of the death of a loved one at once and simplify end-of-life admin has been launched.

The account closure service from Settld, an online start-up, will avoid the need for people to individually contact banks, insurers, mobile and broadband providers, TV subscription services and other service providers when a loved one dies.

The service was founded by Julie and her daughter Vicky Wilson of Seaham, County Durham, after the loss of Vicky’s grandmother 18 months ago.

Members of the public can upload the necessary documents to Settld, which will then automatically notify service providers of a death and of the need to close or transfer accounts.

On average, individuals have up to 20 utility, banking, mobile, broadband, TV subscription and other household service accounts which need to be closed when they die.

Vicky Wilson and her mother June Wilson

Vicky Wilson and her grandmother June Wilson

The Tell Us Once service, introduced in 2011, enables families to report a death to multiple Government and public organisations at once, while a Death Notification Service also helps people notify financial services companies and is planning to expand to include other providers.

But there is no equivalent across the board for private companies.

Ms Wilson said: “More than 110,000 people across the UK have died over the last year from Covid-19 alone. More than 600,000 people die in an average year.

“Each of those people leaves behind loved ones who need to deal, through their grief, with the paperwork and admin that goes with death.

“There’s now no need to ring each and every company to tell them that your grandparent, or husband or wife, sister or brother, or child has died. Our automated system takes care of that and alleviates time wasted hanging on the end of a phone, or sending countless emails.

“Over the last few weeks as we've tested our service among a small group of customers in the North-East, we’ve found that we’ve been able to save them hundreds of pounds by closing monthly subscription services early, rather than having payments roll-on unnoticed in the background.

“For the moment, while we continue to seek a Bereavement Standard, Settld is reliant on businesses co-operating and playing their part in closing and transferring the accounts in question, in reasonable time. The benefit of using Settld’s service is that we look after all the hassle for you, saving you the trouble of chasing companies to resolve your case.”

In addition, the pair are campaigning for an industry-wide bereavement standard, which would require service providers to treat grieving families more compassionately and speed up and simplify end-of-life administration.

The proposed standard would set a time limit for account closures, standardise paperwork, and ensure service providers have dedicated bereavement channels.

More than 90,000 people have signed an online Change.org petition for the Government to introduce a standard, while an early day motion has received cross-party support from 50 MPs.

Rachel Bradburne, policy and public affairs manager for the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), said: “We welcome the new service from Settld. It provides an ideal companion to the Government’s Tell Us Once service for the many different accounts we have in our lives today.

“Grieving families find end-of-life admin extremely difficult and an online service which allows them, for free, to notify a death to multiple service providers in one go – and which also allows them to close accounts of their loved ones – is a crucial step in helping improve bereavement support.

“That’s why the NAFD also backs a new Bereavement Standard.”

During a Commons adjournment debate on the bereavement standard last week, Labour MP Grahame Morris said: “The Tell Us Once service is working well, ensuring that bereaved people do not have to go through the trauma of telling every single Government department that they have lost a loved one, but we need exactly the same in the private sector to cover banks, utilities, insurance companies and more.”

Johnny Timpson, Access Ambassador for the financial services industry and PM Champion, and a mental health campaigner, said: “We know that the pandemic has caused untold pain to tens of thousands of families across Britain, and the mental health impact has been huge.

"While some companies make it easier than others, account closures are a lot for grieving families to sort out. That’s why services like Settld are becoming ever more important. Their automated system to notify multiple companies of someone's death will help to relieve some of the end of life admin faced by the bereaved. I would encourage people to use the Settld service and to tell their friends about it.”