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
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.