Improvement to bereavement notification service

A national system designed to help the bereaved deal with family affairs more easily has been introduced by Gloucestershire County Council's Registration Service.

People in the county are now able to take advantage of the national Tell Us Once service that allows a customer to inform central and local government of a death ‘just once’.

The Tell Us Once service removes the need for customers to provide information to different government departments at a time when they feel least able.

Registration staff will input details of the deceased onto the Change Reporting System, which is a secure site hosted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The appointment times for registering deaths will increase from the current 30minutes, to 40 minutes, but customers can opt to phone the DWP themselves who will collate the information in the same way.

As well as helping those that use the service, it will also save money by reducing duplication of information.
The service will enable council records to be more up to date which will reduce the overpayment of benefits, speed up the cancellation of residential care packages and the reallocation of housing tenancies and improve customer satisfaction levels.

The new Tell Us Once service is available at all main registration offices in the county.

Sally Bye, Head of Registration Services, said: "This service has been designed around customers and the national pilots of the service have proved that it makes it easier for the bereaved to notify the relevant organisations of a change of circumstance. 

"This provides additional support for the bereaved saving them time, money and avoids unnecessary stress."
Councillor Will Windsor-Clive, cabinet member for communities, said: "Losing a close relative or friend is a difficult time for anyone.

"This new service will hopefully take some of the pressure off the individual registering the death and remove any unnecessary phone calls to lots of different services."