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UK bereavement contactsBuilding society

Nationwide bereavement: number, address and forms

Read from Nationwide’s own page on · source: nationwide.co.uk

How do I tell Nationwide that someone has died?

Call Nationwide on 0800 464 30 18 (Monday to Friday 9am–5pm, Saturday 9am–12pm, closed Sundays and bank holidays), or tell them online, by post or in person.

  • Phone: 0800 464 30 18. Monday to Friday 9am–5pm, Saturday 9am–12pm, closed Sundays and bank holidays.
  • Online: “Tell us securely online now” — a DocuSign form.
  • Post: Bereavement Services, Specialist Customer Support, Nationwide Building Society, Swindon, Wiltshire SN38 3FN.
  • Email: Nationwide publishes no email address for telling them about a death.
  • In person: Any Nationwide branch, at any stage of the process.
  • Does not tell: Virgin Money. If the person had accounts with both Nationwide and Virgin Money, each has to be told separately.
  • Probate: Nationwide asks to see a grant of representation (probate or letters of administration) when the balance of the person’s sole Nationwide accounts is above £50,000. Nationwide’s own documents disagree on which accounts count: see below. What Nationwide releases without probate, in full

Every route, with the day we read it

Nationwide Building Society: each published route, read from their own page.
RouteDetailRead on
Phone0800 464 30 18Monday to Friday 9am–5pm, Saturday 9am–12pm, closed Sundays and bank holidays
Online“Tell us securely online now” — a DocuSign form
PostBereavement Services, Specialist Customer Support, Nationwide Building Society, Swindon, Wiltshire SN38 3FN
In personAny Nationwide branch, at any stage of the process

Different product, different team

These products have their own teams and numbers. Where each number was read is in the Sources list at the foot of this page.

  • Investments: 0345 272 00 89Aegon UK, Nationwide’s investments provider. Their leaflet says to contact Aegon about an investment plan.
  • Life insurance: 0800 137 101Legal & General, Nationwide’s life insurance provider: the bereavement claims number on both Legal & General’s own page and Nationwide’s life insurance claims page. Nationwide’s February 2026 leaflet prints a different Legal & General number, which Nationwide’s own pages give for changing or cancelling a policy, not for a claim.

What Nationwide will ask you for

Have these ready

  • The death certificate: the original or a copy, by post or brought into a branch. With the online form you upload a copy, or send it once you have it
  • The person’s full name, address, date of birth and the date of death
  • Your name, address, telephone number and relationship to the person who died; your email address is optional
  • The personal representative’s name and address
  • If the personal representative is not a Nationwide customer, their ID, such as a valid full UK passport or a valid full photocard driving licence, and a recent proof of address

What to write down when you ring

Keep one line per call. If anything goes wrong later, this is what you will be asked for.

  • The date and time you called
  • The name of the person you spoke to
  • Any reference or case number they give you
  • What they said happens next, and by when

Take this with you

Free: notification letters to send

Letters to tell a bank, building society, insurer or pension provider about a death, ready to fill in. No account, no email needed.

A blank to fill in yourself. Not legal advice. Written for England and Wales.

Rather have it by email?

Take it with you

Take the notification letters with you.

We'll email you the notification letters as a PDF — for when you're at a printer, or to pass to the person who'll need it. The download above stays free either way.

Email me the notification letters as a PDF.

It reaches a real person · Privacy

Where are you in this?

  • I’ve only been asked to ring them. Then the route in §1 is all you need. Nothing else is asked of you here.
  • I’m the executor. The Family Handover File (£49, one-off) prepares a ready-to-sign notification letter for each bank, building society, insurer and pension you name, each with an acknowledgement card, and a six-month calendar worked out from your own dates. See The Family Handover File
  • It’s complicated. The guided walkthrough asks one question at a time and tells you what comes next. Start the walkthrough

What happens after you tell Nationwide

You do not need the death certificate to make the first notification — their page says the bereavement services team will try to verify the death through the government database, and you send the certificate when you have it.

Once you have told them about the death and shown them the death certificate, they send you a letter: their page says to expect to hear from them in 10 working days. The letter contains an account summary, what they have done to protect the accounts, and an account closure form.

You do not have to be the named personal representative to tell them.

Closing the accounts normally takes up to 2 weeks once they have everything they need, and they may ask for more information.

Their letter includes the account closure form. It is not one of the forms Nationwide offers to download.

Before the accounts close, only the personal representative can ask them to release available money, for urgent costs: the funeral, the court fees for the grant of probate, letters of administration or confirmation, and Inheritance Tax. They cannot release money for other costs, such as care home fees or utility bills.

For the funeral or the court fees, the personal representative asks with their request for funds form (IF21): download and print it from their funeral-expenses page or, if you can’t, collect it from a branch or call and ask them to send it. For the funeral, include proof of the cost, such as the funeral provider’s estimate or a receipt; for court fees, their leaflet says they don’t need to see the bill. For Inheritance Tax, Nationwide asks for HMRC’s IHT423 form instead.

Their information-for-lawyers page also offers the personal representative registration form (IF20) to download.

What Nationwide does not publish, and where its own pages disagree

Not published

  • Nationwide publishes no email address for telling them about a death. We checked their bereavement pages, the information-for-lawyers page, the contact pages, the privacy notice and the February 2026 bereavement leaflet on 10 October 2026.
  • Nationwide publishes no number for calling the bereavement team from outside the UK. We checked their bereavement page, the contact pages and the February 2026 bereavement leaflet on 10 October 2026.

Which accounts the probate rule counts

Nationwide’s information-for-lawyers page: the balance of the person’s sole accounts.

Nationwide’s personal representative registration form (IF20): the person’s total holdings.

Both are Nationwide’s own. Read on 10 October 2026. If it matters to you, ask Nationwide which applies.

The probate partner's phone number

Nationwide’s live bereavement page: names Phillips & Cohen Associates (UK) but leaves the number blank.

Nationwide’s February 2026 bereavement leaflet: a number one digit different from the one on Phillips & Cohen’s own page.

Both are Nationwide’s own. Read on 10 October 2026. If it matters to you, ask Nationwide which applies.

What kind of copy of the death certificate they accept

Nationwide’s live bereavement page: the original death certificate or a copy.

Nationwide’s February 2026 bereavement leaflet: the certificate or a certified copy, meaning a photocopy certified to show the original has been seen (a branch can do this).

Both are Nationwide’s own. Read on 10 October 2026. If it matters to you, ask Nationwide which applies.

Questions about Nationwide

0800 464 30 18. Monday to Friday 9am–5pm, Saturday 9am–12pm, closed Sundays and bank holidays. Read from Nationwide’s own bereavement page on 10 October 2026.
Nationwide publishes no number for calling the bereavement team from outside the UK. We checked their bereavement page, the contact pages and the February 2026 bereavement leaflet on 10 October 2026. The routes that need no phone call are their online form or post to their Swindon SN38 3FN address.
Bereavement Services, Specialist Customer Support, Nationwide Building Society, Swindon, Wiltshire SN38 3FN. Read from Nationwide’s own bereavement page on 10 October 2026.
Nationwide publishes no email address for telling them about a death. We checked their bereavement pages, the information-for-lawyers page, the contact pages, the privacy notice and the February 2026 bereavement leaflet on 10 October 2026.
Nationwide asks to see a grant of representation (probate or letters of administration) when the balance of the person's sole Nationwide accounts is above £50,000. Nationwide’s own documents disagree on one point, which accounts the probate rule counts. Nationwide's information-for-lawyers page: the balance of the person's sole accounts. Nationwide's personal representative registration form (IF20): the person's total holdings. Read from nationwide.co.uk on 10 October 2026. The full Nationwide figures page
No. If the person had accounts with both Nationwide and Virgin Money, each has to be told separately. Read from Nationwide’s own bereavement page on 10 October 2026.

Who else to tell

Tell Us Once

It does not reach banks, building societies, insurers, utilities or telecoms — those still have to be told one by one.

Available only if the person was living in England, Scotland or Wales. Not available for Northern Ireland, or if the person lived abroad permanently.

Read from GOV.UK on 30 September 2026.

How Tell Us Once works

The Death Notification Service

One free online notification tells the member organisations you choose, at the same time.

Notification only. Each member you choose updates its records and tells you the next steps. The service’s own FAQ says to expect that within 10 working days where a member holds a live account, and that a member holding no account will not write back.

The rest of the directory

How this page was made

Every route here was read from Nationwide’s own pages on 10 October 2026, not from a directory or a search result. If this page and Nationwide’s own page ever disagree, believe theirs.

SONAR is our own watch over the figures and links this site publishes. It can flag a change; it cannot edit this page. A person re-reads Nationwide’s page and re-dates it.

Sources

  1. nationwide.co.uk — Nationwide’s bereavement page: the routes, documents and notes on this page; Virgin Money told separately; Nationwide bereavement page (the probate partner's phone number); Nationwide bereavement page (what kind of copy of the death certificate they accept). Read 10 October 2026.
  2. nationwide.co.uk — Investments line; Bereavement support leaflet (February 2026): what they need to know, ID, court fees, the Aegon number; Bereavement support leaflet (February 2026) (the probate partner's phone number); Bereavement support leaflet (February 2026) (what kind of copy of the death certificate they accept). Read 10 October 2026.
  3. legalandgeneral.com — Life insurance line. Read 10 October 2026.
  4. nationwide.co.uk — Nationwide's paying-for-the-funeral page: who can ask for money, the IF21 form and the IHT423 form for Inheritance Tax. Read 10 October 2026.
  5. nationwide.co.uk — Nationwide's information-for-lawyers page: the IF20 form; the £50,000 probate figure; Nationwide information-for-lawyers page (which accounts the probate rule counts). Read 10 October 2026.
  6. nationwide.co.uk — Nationwide's life insurance claims page: the Legal & General number. Read 10 October 2026.
  7. nationwide.co.uk — Nationwide's update-or-cancel life insurance page: Legal & General's line for policy changes. Read 10 October 2026.
  8. nationwide.co.uk — Personal representative registration form (IF20) (which accounts the probate rule counts). Read 10 October 2026.
  9. phillips-cohen.co.uk — Phillips & Cohen’s own contact page (the probate partner's phone number). Read 10 October 2026.

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