Bereavement Support Service

About the service

We recognise that in addition to coping with bereavement, you are also faced with making many arrangements and notifying a large number of organisations. This process can be confusing, distressing and time consuming and you will often have to notify different organisations with the same information.

We offer two levels of service depending on your circumstances

• If you are registering the death of a Southwark resident we can offer you a full notification service. Here we will take the necessary information from you in order to be able to act on your behalf

• If the deceased was not a Southwark resident, we can still assist you by signposting you to the organisations you may need to contact and provide you with an information pack

Both services are free and confidential and we will only notify those organisations and departments that give us permission to.

How we can help

The Bereavement Support Service can assist you in a number of ways, we can

• Notify on your behalf a number of Southwark Council and central government departments about the death

• Provide you with information and advice about a range of services, who else you need to inform, probate, counselling and other support services

• Assist you in accessing additional benefits and monies to which you may be entitled.

How to book an appointment

You can book an appointment by calling 020 7525 7651. To make it easier for you, we can book you an appointment to coincide with your appointment with the Registrar to register the death. Alternatively we can book you an appointment at a time and date convenient to you.

We also offer a walk-in service, you can access this service by visiting us at

Southwark Register Office
34 Peckham Road
London
SE5 8QA

Simply ask at the ground floor reception for our service and one of the team will be with you as soon as they can. The walk-in service is available between 10am and 3.30pm every weekday.

At the appointment

Your appointment should last no more than 30 minutes and you will be seen by one of our specially trained Bereavement Support Officers (BSO) who will collect the necessary information so that we can notify the relevant organisations on your behalf. We can save you time and money, you simply give us the information once and let us do the work for you.

To assist the BSO and to save you time, it would helpful if you could have the following documents or information to your appointment

• The deceased's National Insurance number

• A death certificate (unless you are registering the death at the same time)

• If you are the next of kin and you are in receipt of, or may be entitled to, benefits, please bring your own National Insurance number

• If you are not the next of kin we will still be able to help you, however we may not be able to offer all of the services without the next of kin’s written permission. In these cases, it would assist if you could bring signed consent from the next of kin

At your appointment you will also receive an information pack tailored to your own personal circumstances and you will be able to access a range of other resources and materials that will assist you in making the necessary arrangements regarding the death.

Follow-up appointment

For those of you who qualify for the full notification service, we will offer you a follow-up appointment, typically four weeks after your initial appointment, where we will

• Review the activities we have undertaken on your behalf
• Assist you with any further enquiries you may have
• Complete the notifications process to give you peace of mind

In most cases the follow-up appointment will be over the phone, but a face-to-face appointment can be booked in some circumstances.

Contact Us

Southwark Register Office
Tel: 020 7525 7651
bereavementservice@southwark.gov.uk
Southwark Register Office
34 Peckham Road
London
SE5 8QA
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 10am to 3.30pm.