Bereavement

We can help you to deal with someone’s estate if they had a Co-operative Bank, smile or Britannia account. It's important that you follow the government advice when someone dies, as well as letting their bank know.

Find out the steps you should take when someone dies

Bereavement support

When grieving for someone, it can be hard to deal with their finances too. This guide aims to help make this as straightforward as it can be, so you can spend more time dealing with what matters most.

What we need from you

Request to release funds to cover costs

Get help from our bereavement team

What we need from you

1. Obtain a death certificate

It’s important for you to request a death certificate, as you’ll need this in order to be able to make certain changes to the account of the person who has died. You can get a death certificate from the General Register Office (GRO).

Order a copy of the death certificate

2. Secure the account(s)

Initially, all the deceased’s accounts with us will remain open, any regular payments, such as direct debits, will continue to go out of the account(s), any cards will remain active, and any marketing will continue to be sent.

To secure the account(s) and stop these things, you’ll need to either:

• Send us the death certificate at the postal address or email address below,
• Complete a bereavement instruction form (PDF) and post it to us at the address below, or
• Call us to let us know, then email the death certificate to us as soon as you can, using the email address below.

To support you at this time, we accept uncertified copies of the death certificate when you first notify us, and will secure the account(s) when we receive one. We still need you to send us the certified copy when it’s possible.

Co-operative Bank/smile

03457 212 212 for current accounts and savings accounts (call charges)

0345 600 6000 for credit cards (call charges)

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 5pm.

Britannia

0800 132 304 (call charges)

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturdays, 9am to 12pm.

3. Provide us with some documents

You need to provide us with some documents, depending on the type of accounts with us and their total combined value. Some of these documents need to be certified as genuine if you provide us with a copy rather than an original. You can read more about how to correctly certify documents.

Sole accounts with a balance of £50,000 or less

We require:

• A bereavement instruction form (PDF), completed by the solicitor, executor or next of kin to provide us with information about the person who has died, and who will be representing the estate (if there is no will, section 2 needs to include details of all next of kin, and section 4 normally only needs to be completed and signed by one next of kin)
• Proof of identity and address of any next of kin who do not hold an open account with us – this is not always required and we will try to verify identities electronically but if you prefer, you can instead provide paper copies of proof
• An original or certified copy of the death certificate
• An original or certified copy of the will (only needs to be certified on the first page) or a certified copy of the grant of probate, if either of these exist

Sole accounts with a balance of more than £50,000

We require:

• A certified copy of the grant of probate, if there is a will
• A certified copy of grant of letters of administration, if there is no will
• A completed bereavement instruction form (PDF) – the solicitor, executor or next of kin should complete this. It provides us with information about the deceased, and who will be representing the estate
• An original or certified copy of the death certificate.

Joint accounts

We only require:

• A completed bereavement instruction form (PDF). The solicitor, executor or next of kin should complete this. It provides us with information about the deceased, and who will be representing the estate
• A copy of the death certificate. Once received, the joint account(s) will convert into the name(s) of the remaining account holder(s).

How to provide us with documents

If you don’t know what accounts the deceased held, or if they held accounts with both The Co-operative Bank and Britannia, please send the documents to Britannia.

Email

You can scan certified copies of documents, save them in PDF file format and send them to us by email at the relevant email address below. You can read our guidance on sending documents by email (PDF).

For Co-operative Bank accounts, please email:

mail.services@co-operativebank.co.uk

For Britannia accounts, please email:

britanniabereavementdocuments@co-operativebank.co.uk

Post

You can post documents to us at the relevant address below.

The Co-operative Bank

The Co-operative Bank
Bereavement Team
PO Box 638
Salford
M5 0JQ

Britannia

Britannia
Bereavement Team
Freepost(15796)
Dept CO33
Leek
Staffordshire
ST13 5RG

We don’t recommend that you post original documents. However, if you do post originals, we recommend you use a trackable delivery service as these are important documents.

Once we’ve received any originals, we’ll aim to have them scanned and sent back out to you within one day. Original forms of proof of ID and address will be returned via recorded delivery. Other original documents will be sent back to you via first class post.

Branch

If you want to bring the documents into a branch, please contact us to make an appointment first, by using the relevant number below. If you’re taking documents into a branch, you can take original documents.

Co-operative Bank/smile

03457 212 212 for current accounts and savings accounts (call charges)

0345 600 6000 for credit cards (call charges)

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 5pm.

Britannia

0800 132 304 (call charges)

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturdays, 9am to 12pm.

What happens next?

We will provide you with the account balances once we have received the bereavement instruction form and death certificate.

Any account(s), including a personal loan, Visa account or personal account, that are not insured will be dealt with by our Bereavement team, who will contact you directly.

You are not personally liable for the deceased’s debt. However, the Bank can claim against the estate of the deceased.

If any account/s are insured we will liaise on your behalf with our insurers, Aviva.

Request the release of funds to cover costs

We can release funds from the account upon receipt of an invoice or a receipt of payment for the following:

• Funeral and associated costs, including headstone, wake catering, order of service sheets, flowers
• Newspaper announcements
• Repatriation of the deceased
• Inheritance fees
• Grant of probate / Letters of administration / Certificate of confirmation fees.

Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney privileges and third party access will cease on the date of death of the person in question. Please let us know of their death as soon as possible.

A person given Power of Attorney doesn't necessarily or automatically become responsible for managing the estate of the deceased. That’s decided by what is set out in the will.

If the deceased didn’t have a will, what happens next depends on a number of factors, including their marital status, what's held with the bank and where in the UK they lived.

Speak to our team

If you need help, our customer bereavement team can support and guide you through the process.

If the person who died had both Co-operative Bank/smile and Britannia accounts, use the number for the Britannia team.

Co-operative Bank/smile

03457 212 212 for current accounts and savings accounts (call charges)

0345 600 6000 for credit cards (call charges)

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 5pm.

Britannia

0800 132 304 (call charges)

Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturdays, 9am to 12pm.

Useful Links

Cruse Bereavement Care

The Samaritans

Child Bereavement UK

Widowed and Young

Although not specifically related to banking, the government’s Tell Us Once service is a convenient way to notify multiple governmental departments of someone’s passing in one go.

Help with paying for a funeral is also available in some cases. For more information, please see the gov.uk Funeral Payments webpage.