Bereavement

We're sorry you've suffered a loss. Our bereavement specialists can help you.

What to do with the vehicle when someone passes away

Making important financial decisions may seem difficult after experiencing a loss. We're here to help you through any you have to make.

Contact us

If the vehicle is a personal lease:

Contact us on 0800 015 4140 (8am - 5.30pm, Monday to Friday) or email us to let us know that the person has passed away.

If the vehicle is a company or salary sacrifice car:

You should speak directly with the deceased person's employer. They will be able to make arrangements to collect the vehicle or return it to us.

The next steps

If the vehicle is a personal lease:

We can support you with the return of the vehicle. At this point, we will need to see a copy of the death certificate. If you need guidance on how to obtain the death certificate there are details in the useful information section below.

As soon as we hear from you, we’ll put a stop on the account. There won’t be any more direct debit charges or missed payments from this point. We won’t charge any outstanding fees or charges to the estate.

If there have been any missed payments on the account, we’ll discuss whether these can be covered with you or the estate.

  • Obtaining a death certificate

    First, ask for a medical certificate. The GP, doctor, or hospital can help with this. This is different to a death certificate and is used to register the death.

    Once you have this, you can register the death. You do this by taking the medical certificate to the registrar of births, deaths, and marriages. You can find a register office on the government’s website. The process varies depending on whether the person died at home, overseas or in a hospital. There are also variations for different parts of the UK. There is some helpful information in the government’s step-by-step guide to tell you what you need to do and how quickly.

    Ask for a death certificate – The registrar will provide you with a death certificate. You can also use a copy of the registrar’s record of death to help deal with money matters. Look on gov.uk for more information.

    Finding a will and managing money

    Find out whether there is a will, which you may be able to find in their home. If you’re not sure if there is a will, or don’t know where it is, ask the deceased's solicitor, bank, or accountant. The will tells you what they want to happen with their estate and should name an executor. This is the person responsible for dealing with everything. It may also contain details of what they want for a funeral.

    If you can’t find a copy of the will in their home, the deceased's solicitor, bank, or accountant may be able to help you. There will be at least one executor of the estate and you’ll find details of this written in the will. If you’re not the executor, you’ll need to tell whomever is about the death straight away. There are things they’ll need to do. A solicitor can help with this if needed.

    If there’s no will, you can appoint an administrator. This works differently in different nations of the UK. Look on gov.uk for more information.