Death Notification Service UK (2026): How to Notify Banks After a Death

The Death Notification Service (DNS) is a free service run by Bereavement Advice Centre on behalf of the UK Finance banking trade body. It allows the executor or next of kin to notify multiple participating banks, building societies, and financial services providers of a person's death in a single online or telephone step, rather than contacting each institution individually. You provide basic details of the deceased — full name, date of birth, date of death, last known address — along with your own name and contact details. The DNS then sends a secure notification to all member organisations that hold accounts in the deceased's name. Each member then contacts the estate or executor separately to progress the administration of those specific accounts. The service is available at deathnotificationservice.co.uk and is entirely free of charge. It operates 24 hours a day online. You can also notify by telephone during business hours. The DNS does not require you to submit a death certificate, grant of probate, or any supporting documents at the notification stage — each bank requests those directly once the account is identified. The service is designed to reduce the burden on bereaved families of making multiple phone calls to banks in the days immediately after a death, when each call requires repeating the same information and often involves extended hold times.

The Death Notification Service has a large and growing membership covering most major UK high street banks and many building societies and financial services providers. Current members include (but are not limited to): Barclays, Halifax, HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Nationwide Building Society, Santander UK, TSB, Bank of Scotland, First Direct, M&S Bank, Co-operative Bank, Metro Bank, Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, Skipton Building Society, Leeds Building Society, West Bromwich Building Society, and many others. Some credit card providers and financial services firms are also members. A full and up-to-date list of members is published on the DNS website at deathnotificationservice.co.uk. Membership changes over time as new organisations join. If you cannot find a particular institution on the DNS list, you must contact that organisation directly using their own bereavement team or customer service number. It is worth using the DNS for all member institutions AND contacting non-member organisations separately — the two approaches are complementary, not mutually exclusive.

The Death Notification Service and Tell Us Once are complementary services that notify different types of organisations, and both should be used where applicable. Tell Us Once is a government service operated by local councils and linked to the register office — it notifies government departments and public bodies including HMRC, DWP (State Pension, Universal Credit, PIP, ESA), DVLA, HM Passport Office, Veterans UK, and local councils. Tell Us Once does NOT notify banks, building societies, private pension providers, NS&I, or insurance companies. The Death Notification Service fills that gap: it notifies member banks and financial institutions — precisely the organisations Tell Us Once cannot reach. NS&I (Premium Bonds, savings) must be contacted directly as they are not currently DNS members. Private pension providers must also be contacted directly. Insurance companies have their own bereavement processes. For a complete notification strategy after a death: use Tell Us Once for government bodies (reference number from register office, valid 28 days), use DNS for member banks (online or telephone), and contact all other institutions (NS&I, private pensions, insurers, utilities) individually.

No — the Death Notification Service does neither. Notifying the DNS does not freeze accounts and does not grant the executor or next of kin any access to the deceased's funds. The DNS is purely a notification tool: it alerts member banks that a death has occurred. What happens after the notification depends entirely on each individual bank's own bereavement process. Typically, after receiving a DNS notification, a bank will: identify all accounts in the deceased's name; freeze sole accounts (to prevent unauthorised access and protect the estate); contact the notifying party or executor to request further documentation; and then administer those accounts according to their bereavement policy. Joint accounts are not frozen by the notification — the surviving joint holder retains full access. To access the deceased's sole accounts, the executor must separately provide a death certificate and, for larger estates, a grant of probate. The amount that triggers a probate requirement varies by bank (typically £5,000–£50,000 depending on institution and account type). The DNS notification accelerates the identification process, but it does not bypass the legal and documentary requirements for releasing estate funds.

The Death Notification Service is primarily designed for personal accounts held at UK-based financial institutions. Business accounts (limited companies, partnerships, sole trader accounts) are outside the scope of the DNS — business accounts require separate notification to the bank and are administered differently from personal estate accounts, since a business is a separate legal entity from the deceased person. For sole trader accounts where the business account is in the individual's name, the position is less clear — contact the bank directly. Accounts held at overseas banks (foreign accounts) are outside the DNS entirely. For overseas accounts, you must contact the foreign bank directly, potentially through local lawyers or the British Embassy, and may need recognition of a grant of probate or a separate grant from that country's court (resealing). If the deceased held accounts at UK branches of foreign banks (for example a US-headquartered bank with a UK branch that is DNS member), the DNS notification should reach that institution's UK operations — check the DNS member list. For non-member institutions in any category, always contact them directly using their bereavement service contact details.

To use the Death Notification Service itself, you need very little: the deceased's full legal name (including any previous names if applicable), date of birth, date of death, and last known address. You also provide your own name and contact details. You do not need to upload a death certificate, a grant of probate, or any other formal document to the DNS at this stage. The DNS is designed to be used in the days immediately after death, before probate has been granted and while you may only just have the tell-us-once reference number. Each member bank then contacts you separately and requests their own specific documentation — typically a certified copy of the death certificate for account identification, and then a grant of probate or letters of administration for releasing funds above their threshold. The death certificate is issued by the register office when the death is registered; you should order multiple certified copies (£11 each) because each institution typically requires one original certified copy and will not accept photocopies. Many executors order 8–12 certified copies at registration to avoid having to return to the register office or order additional copies later at higher cost through the General Register Office.

There is no strict time limit for using the Death Notification Service — it can be used at any point after a death. However, using it as soon as reasonably practicable is advisable for several reasons: dormant accounts are less likely to incur charges or miss time-sensitive income (such as salary payments after death that should not be continuing); banks can flag accounts and prevent unauthorised use; and early notification reduces the risk of fraudulent transactions on the deceased's accounts. The logical order of steps immediately after death is: (1) obtain the medical certificate of cause of death (from the doctor or hospital); (2) register the death at the register office within 5 days (in England and Wales) to obtain the death certificate and the Tell Us Once reference number; (3) use Tell Us Once within 28 days of registration to notify government departments; (4) use the Death Notification Service to notify member banks (can be done at any time, but order several certified death certificates at registration to have ready for the banks); (5) contact non-member organisations (NS&I, private pensions, insurers, utilities) individually; (6) apply for a grant of probate when needed. There is no fee for using the DNS and there is no penalty for delay, but earlier notification generally makes estate administration more straightforward.