What to do if a customer passes away?
Coping with the death of a family member or friend isn’t easy, and dealing with their affairs can be complicated and upsetting. Here you can find out what you need to do when one of our customers dies, to help you through this difficult time.
If you’re the next of kin or executors of the estate, you’ll need to:
Inform us of the death by contacting us
Provide us with a copy of the death certificate
Arrange for any belongings in the property to be removed
To provide us with this, you’ll need to:
Go to our chatbot and when prompted select the bottom prompt, send document
To send the document please click on the paperclip icon and select the file you'd like to send
You'll be able to send documents, photos and videos over to us
There is a 5MB limit, so if your file is above this, you may need to send the files as multiple files
We also have a YouTube video showing how to send a document in WhatsApp too
If you already have a case created relating to this you can:
Go to cases using the menu
Click on the case this is relating to
Press upload file and this will then be uploaded to us
A tenancy doesn't automatically end when someone dies, so you’ll need to either end the tenancy, or let us know if you’d like to take over the tenancy
If you're the next of kin, we’ll ask you to complete an ‘end of tenancy form’
You should give 4 weeks’ notice in line with the tenancy agreement (this can be negotiated with us if you need more time to deal with things)
As part of this process, we’ll serve a ‘Notice to Quit’ - this isn’t anything to worry about, it’s just us ending the tenancy
We’ll install a key safe at the home and give you a four-digit code. We’ll ask you to leave the keys here at the end of the notice period
Depending on the circumstances, you or a family member may be able to take over the tenancy. This is known as succession. We’ll consider:
Your relationship with the person who died
How long you've lived there
What the tenancy agreement says
What your circumstances are
In most cases, the tenancy can be passed to either a spouse or partner who’s been living in the home for 12 months. Most tenancies can only be passed on once.
As the lease will need to be amended, please speak to your solicitor to confirm what next steps are needed.
Once a next step has been selected, your solicitor will get in touch with us.
Please get in touch and we can look into this
We’ll need a copy of the death certificate
Once we’ve received this, you’ll take over the tenancy if there's been no previous succession granted by us
If it's a joint tenancy, the remaining customer will be responsible for the rent.
If the tenancy was in a sole name, the rent and charges for any works needed to the property will be the responsibility of the estate until the tenancy’s ended. If the estate has no money, please confirm this in writing and we won’t pursue any debt.
If there's any credit on the account, we'll arrange a refund once we’ve confirmed the cost of any works that we need to charge for, and any benefits received are confirmed to be correct. We'll need to know where the funds need to be paid to. Contact us if there's no will so we can talk you through the next steps.
You’ll need to arrange for all personal belongings to be removed from the home, including the loft, garden and shed
If you feel there are items that would be beneficial for the next customer (such as floor coverings and curtains), please let us know so we can tell you if these items can be left
We may charge the cost of removing any items which are left in the home without our agreement. Any items left will be disposed of
