Advice
How to Stop Unwanted Mail After Someone Dies
Practical ways to reduce marketing post, notify account providers and make sure important letters are not missed
Post addressed to someone who has died can be surprisingly difficult to receive. Even an ordinary catalogue or renewal reminder can arrive at the wrong moment and bring everything back to the surface. Unfortunately, there is no single service that stops every letter. Different steps deal with different kinds of post, but a simple and methodical approach can gradually bring it under control.
Begin by separating important post from marketing
It can be tempting to throw everything away, particularly when there seems to be an endless stream of envelopes. Before doing that, take a moment to separate anything connected with the person’s affairs.
Important letters may help the executor or administrator identify:
- bank and building society accounts;
- pensions and investments;
- insurance policies;
- credit cards or loans;
- utility and household accounts;
- memberships and subscriptions; and
- charities the person supported.
Keep these letters somewhere safe and make a note of the organisations that need to be contacted. An account number or customer reference from a recent letter can make the conversation much easier.
Catalogues, promotional offers and general advertising can be dealt with separately.
Use Tell Us Once for government organisations
When the death is registered, the registrar will normally explain the government’s Tell Us Once service. Our guide to registering a death explains the current medical examiner and registration process.
It allows you to tell several government organisations about the death at the same time. Depending on the person’s circumstances, this may include HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Passport Office, the DVLA and the local council.
If you are given a Tell Us Once reference number, it must usually be used within 28 days.
Tell Us Once is helpful, but it does not notify private companies. Banks, insurers, utility providers, private pension companies and similar organisations will still need to be contacted separately.
Our guidance about what to do when someone dies explains the other immediate steps and who needs to be contacted first.
Contact banks and other account providers directly
Most larger organisations have a bereavement team, even if its details are not immediately obvious on their website. Tell them that the account holder has died and ask what they need from you.
They may request a copy of the death certificate and details of the executor or person dealing with the estate. Requirements vary, so it is sensible to ask before sending original documents.
The free Death Notification Service can also notify a number of participating banks and building societies at the same time. It does not cover every financial organisation, so check which companies are included before relying on it.
Keep a simple record of each conversation, including the date, the name of the organisation and any reference number you are given. This avoids having to start again if more post arrives later.
Be careful with joint and household accounts
A letter may be addressed only to the person who died even though the account is still needed by someone else in the household.
Before cancelling utilities, telephone services, insurance policies or joint financial accounts, check what will happen to the surviving account holder. In many cases, the organisation can change the name on the account instead of closing it.
This is particularly important with home insurance, vehicle insurance and services that other people still depend on.
Register with The Bereavement Register
The Bereavement Register is a free service that helps reduce advertising and other direct marketing addressed to someone who has died.
Once registered, the person’s name and address are added to a suppression list used by participating organisations. It can take several weeks for the change to work its way through existing mailing lists, and it may not stop every item.
The service only deals with marketing. It does not close accounts, cancel subscriptions or tell companies that hold money or important information about the death. Those organisations should still be contacted directly.
Consider redirecting the post
If the person lived alone, or nobody dealing with the estate remains at their address, important post may need to be sent elsewhere.
Royal Mail allows someone dealing with the estate to apply for a redirection using its Special Circumstances application. Identification and supporting documents will be required, and there is a charge for the service.
A redirection gives you time to identify organisations that have not yet been contacted. It does not tell those organisations that the person has died, so their records will still need to be updated.
Deal with catalogues, charities and subscriptions individually
Some organisations do not use the suppression lists checked by The Bereavement Register. Others may have prepared their mailing several weeks before being notified.
If unwanted post continues, contact the sender directly. Quoting the customer, membership or supporter number shown on the letter will often help them find the correct record.
Where appropriate, ask the organisation to:
- record that the person has died;
- stop future correspondence;
- cancel any continuing subscription or payment; and
- confirm whether anything else is needed from the estate.
Do not assume that cancelling the post also cancels a Direct Debit or other payment. Check both separately.
If more letters continue to arrive
It is quite normal for some post to arrive after organisations have been notified. Mailing lists are often prepared in advance, and changes do not always reach every department immediately.
If letters are still arriving after a reasonable period, contact the organisation again and refer to your earlier conversation. This is where keeping a brief record of calls and reference numbers becomes useful.
Unexpected financial correspondence deserves closer attention. If a new account, debt or transaction appears after the death, tell the executor or administrator and contact the organisation using details from its official website rather than relying solely on the telephone number printed in the letter.
A simple checklist
- Keep and sort any post that may relate to the estate.
- Use Tell Us Once for government organisations.
- Contact banks, insurers, pensions and household providers.
- Check the effect before changing joint or essential accounts.
- Register with The Bereavement Register to reduce marketing.
- Arrange a Royal Mail redirection if important post needs to go elsewhere.
- Keep a note of everyone contacted and follow up where necessary.
You do not have to deal with every letter in one sitting. Starting with the important accounts and working through the rest a little at a time is usually the most manageable way forward.