I am managing the estate of a customer who has died. How do I close their accounts?

• If you are a personal representative of the customer who has died, please let us know if they operated any Triodos Business accounts. You can provide the account numbers or company name(s) on the Bereavement Notification Form(PDF), if you know them. We will block their account access straight away. You may also notify us by phone.
• If you represent the business, you may also notify us by phone. If an account operator has died, the remaining account operator(s) should complete a Business Banking change of account operator form - current, deposit, and loans(PDF) as soon as possible. We will update the account mandate and internet banking access, as appropriate.
• Where the late customer was the only account operator on the account(s) of a business that will continue to operate, we will require further documentation from the directors of the company, in addition to the Death Certificate. Please call us to discuss the circumstances.
• Sole trader accounts may be closed by completing an Account Closure form, which we will provide to the personal representatives when they send us the Bereavement Notification Form.
• If the late customer was an ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) for a business account (including trusts), we will ask for the Death Certificate and any relevant Grant of Representation.

When we are notified that a customer has died, all their sole accounts are frozen and internet banking is removed. We also remove Powers of Attorney from the account, because the Will or any subsequent Grant of Representation will legally supersede these arrangements.

If you are a personal representative, please complete a Bereavement Notification Form(PDF) or call us on 0330 355 0355.

• Please complete a Bereavement Notification Form(PDF) and send it to us with a Death Certificate.
• Before we can close the accounts, we may ask for a Grant of Letters of Administration to verify that you have authority to manage the accounts.
• We will attempt to verify the identify and address of every Administrator electronically, but may ask you for paper ID documents if this is not possible.
• When you are ready to close the accounts, you should complete a Closure Form, which we will provide you with by post.

The process remains the same as for UK residents, however proof of identity and address documents must be certified by an Embassy, Consulate or High Commission from the country where the documents were issued.

Please be aware that we don’t accept original passports or driving licences by post. Therefore, you may prefer to send certified copy documents by recorded or tracked delivery to ensure they don’t get lost in the post. But be aware, most delivery companies will charge for this service.

Our address is:
Bereavement Team
Triodos Bank
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AS
UK

If Probate is required, it must be obtained from the UK as we cannot accept overseas Probate documents for funds held here. You may wish to seek legal advice about how to arrange this, as we cannot provide advice on individual circumstances.

When the accounts are closed, the funds will be paid out in pounds sterling. Exchange rates and fees may apply if we are asked to pay funds overseas.

Where a legal firm has been appointed as executor of the estate, most of the process remains the same. A solicitor should complete the Bereavement Notification Form(PDF) and provide their name, company name and contact details. We will verify the firm and their position but will not request identity documents from them. Where other personal representatives or executors are also appointed, we will request permission to verify their identities where appropriate.

Any Triodos Impact Fund Investments, whether held in an Impact Investment Account or Triodos Stocks and Shares ISA, will need to be sold and the proceeds transferred to a bank account chosen by the executor. Unfortunately, we’re not able to transfer the existing investments to a new investment account or beneficiary at the moment.

Please note that until the Triodos Impact Fund Investments are sold, they will remain invested which means their value may change. With any investment, there’s the risk that you could get back less than initially invested.

ISA accounts will be closed 3 years and 1 day after the date of death, if an instruction to close the ISA has not been received from the representatives of the estate, to comply with HMRC rules.

You can find more information on Triodos Impact Investments, Impact Investment Accounts, and Stocks and Shares ISAs at www.triodos.co.uk/impact-investments.

We recommend that you do not share your account security details with anyone. This includes your telephone password and any internet banking log in details or digipass codes.

Making a Will and appointing executors can make the process easier for those managing your estate. The Money Helper website from the Money & Pensions Service provides lots of advice for later life planning: Putting your financial affairs in order if you get ill or die – making a will and more (moneyhelper.org.uk)

You only need to send us one notification form for all their accounts. We will send you a valuation of all the accounts if you request it on the Bereavement Notification Form(PDF). This is the first step in notifying us that the customer has passed away. Please note that some accounts can take longer to pay out than others. For example, it can take longer to sell investments and have the proceeds paid out. You can specify whether you would prefer to have everything paid out at the same time on the Bereavement Notification Form.

If the customer who has died only had Joint accounts or Business accounts, we don't require the Bereavement Notification Form, just a copy of the Death Certificate.

Joint accounts will remain open in the name of the surviving account holder who will be able to use the accounts as usual. In cases where the deceased only held a joint Triodos account and no sole accounts, please send us a copy of the Death Certificate so we can update our records. We will only need a Bereavement Notification Form(PDF) if the customer also held sole accounts in their own name.

‘Joint accounts’ here refers to Current Accounts (for daily banking) and Impact Investment Accounts. For business accounts, you’ll need to complete a Change of account operator form(PDF).

To notify us that a customer with a joint account has passed away, please email a scanned copy of the Death Certificate to [email protected]. If this isn’t possible, you can post an original or a certified copy to us at ‘Bereavement Team, Triodos Bank, Deanery Road, Bristol, BS1 5AS’.

Please note, you may want to send original or certified documents by recorded or tracked delivery to ensure they don’t get lost in the post. But be aware, most delivery companies will charge for this service. Alternatively, you can send documents to ‘FREEPOST Triodos Bank’. This is a second class service with no stamp required.

Triodos Crowdfunding investments may be transferred to a new investment holder, who will need to open a Crowdfunding account if they do not already have one. It is sometimes possible to redeem the investments (have them paid out) instead of transferring them. This is ultimately at the discretion of the directors of the company that issued the investment.

You can indicate on the Bereavement Notification Form(PDF) whether you would like the investments to be transferred or redeemed. If you select the option to transfer, we will provide the new investment holder with a Stock Transfer Form to complete so they can transfer the investments (and any cash in the Crowdfunding ‘wallet’) to their name.

If you select the option to redeem, we will contact the issuing company to request this. Once we have received a response, we will let you know if the redemption is possible or if the investments must be transferred.

You can find more information on crowdfunding investments at www.triodoscrowdfunding.co.uk.

Most of the documents we request from you will be the same. However, in Scotland the Grant of Representation / Probate is referred to as the “Certificate of Confirmation”. Find out more on What to do after a death in Scotland (gov.scot). 

The following people can certify documents for you:

• Accountants with a current ‘practicing’ membership, registered with ICAEW, ICAS, CAI, ACCA, CIPFA or CIMA.
• Solicitors
• Post Office – a fee may be charged for using this service
• Bank staff (must include branch stamp)

Certifiers must clearly write that they have seen the original document. For photo ID, they must confirm that the photograph represents a true likeness of the individual. They must include their full name, profession, business address, phone number and the date they certified the document).

Certified copies must all be in colour and dated within the past 3 months.

Please note that you can request additional official copies of Birth, Marriage or the Death Certificates at the time you obtain the original from the Register Office. You may also request official copies at a later date from the General Register Office: Order a copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate (www.gov.uk).

You may prefer to send original or certified documents by recorded or tracked delivery to ensure they don’t get lost in the post. But be aware, most delivery companies will charge for this service. 

Our address is:

Bereavement Team
Triodos Bank
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AS

Alternatively, you can send documents to ‘FREEPOST Triodos Bank’. This is a second class service with no stamp required.

We can release funds from personal accounts to pay Inheritance Tax (IHT) when needed. If you are an administrator or executor, you may request that we pay HMRC directly from the accounts of the customer who has died. This is called the ‘Direct Payment Scheme’.

Before we can release funds for IHT, we require the Death Certificate and a completed IHT423 form. We also require at least one of the legal representatives to have passed our ID checks. You can obtain the form from HMRC – please follow the instructions on the Government website: Pay your Inheritance Tax bill from the deceased's bank account (www.gov.uk).

We will send the payment directly to HMRC, up to the balance of the eligible accounts. We recommend that you review how much is left in the accounts before requesting this.

An Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allows a surviving spouse or civil partner a one-off ISA subscription equal to the total value of the deceased ISAs at the date of their death. This needs to be completed within three years of the date of death.

Unfortunately, we’re unable to accept an APS into a Triodos ISA, or facilitate an APS transfer to another provider. We can provide a one-off valuation of the deceased’s Triodos ISAs on date of death for an APS. This can be shared with other ISA providers who accept APS upon request. You can find out more about APS’s on the government website: Manage additional permitted subscriptions into an ISA.

To let us know a customer has died outside of the UK, please call us on 0330 355 0355.

• complete a Bereavement Notification form and send this to us by email or post
• send us the original Death Certificate by post (UK death certificates can be sent to us by email).

You may prefer to send certified documents by recorded or tracked delivery to ensure they don’t get lost in the post. But be aware, most delivery companies will charge for this service.

Our address is:
Bereavement Team
Triodos Bank
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AS
UK

Please read the Bereavement Notification Form for more information. This explains the other documents we need and the next steps in the process.

If you are also a Triodos customer, you may also send us a chat message in Internet Banking.

If probate is required, it must be obtained from the UK as we cannot accept overseas probate documents for funds held here. you may wish to seek legal advice about how to arrange this, as we cannot provide advice on individual circumstances.

When the accounts are closed, the funds will be paid out in pounds sterling. exchange rates and fees may apply if we are asked to pay funds overseas.

When you fill in the Bereavement Notification Form(PDF), you can indicate whether you want a valuation of all the late customer’s accounts. We will send this to you as soon as we have verified the Death Certificate and gathered all the necessary details, usually within 10 working days. We cannot provide this information over the telephone.

If you don’t request it when you first notify us, you can still request this at any time by calling us on 0330 355 0355 or writing to us.

Depository Receipts (DRs) offer a way to invest directly invest in Triodos Bank. The register is managed on our behalf by an external provider called Captin.

These can only be transferred to a new DR holder, in accordance with the Will. The new DR holder will need to register with Captin and complete a further identity check with them before the DRs can be transferred into their name. Once the DRs have been transferred to the new holder, they can be sold via Captin. The beneficiaries will be able to review their holding with Captin once the transfer is complete.

We will provide more information on this if applicable.

We don't offer arranged or unarranged overdraft facilities on our current account. For assistance with debt and managing your finances please visit our support page where we list a number of specialist organisations who will be able to help you.

We can release funds from personal accounts to pay for reasonable funeral expenses. If you are an administrator or executor, you may request that we pay a funeral bill once you have provided the Death Certificate. Please ask the funeral provider to send us an official invoice or bill on headed paper by post, or a digital invoice from their company email address.

We will send them a cheque or electronic transfer to cover the funeral costs, up to the balance in the eligible accounts. We recommend that you review how much is left in the accounts before requesting this.