Informing Teachers' Pensions when someone passes away

The easiest way to notify us of a death is to complete our online form. Alternatively, call our contact centre on 0345 606 6166 (8.30am – 6:00pm, Monday to Friday). If you decide to call us an operator will take some details and send you an application for death benefits to complete and return to us. This form can also be downloaded from our website (PDF, 937 KB). This form needs to be completed in all cases, even if you believe that there aren’t any benefits to pass on.

If a completed application form isn’t received we’ll not be able to process benefits. If a death grant is not paid within two years of being notified of a death, when the death grant is paid it’ll be subject to a tax charge. This could be as much as 45% of the death grant. You may need to apply for Probate which can take some time to arrange, therefore, it is important to start the process as soon as possible.

The quickest way to apply for your benefits is by using our form (PDF, 1 MB). We’ll confirm details of any benefits due in writing.

We may need to verify information about the deceased member's service and salary with their employer before this is possible. If there are any payments to be made, we'll contact you and any other beneficiaries outlining any benefits that are due to each party.

In the case where the deceased member was receiving a pension, if there has been an overpayment, we'll confirm the amount that will need to be returned to us. Similarly, we'll confirm if there is a residue of pension owed.

If a completed application form isn't received we’ll not be able to process benefits. If a death grant isn't paid within two years of being notified of a death, when the death grant is paid it’ll be subject to a tax charge. This could be as much as 45% of the death grant. You may need to apply for Probate which can take some time to arrange, therefore, it's important to start the process as soon as possible.

Please visit our Relatives and advisors Hub which will provide all the additional information you need.

To ensure you have the appropriate type of Power of Attorney to enable it to be registered with Teachers’ Pensions please send it to us or provide the YouGov website code where we’ll be able to access the details

Teachers’ Pensions don't participate in the Tell Us Once service, instead we receive disclosure of death registration information (DDRI) from the registrars general for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. But as this may take some time to come through to us, we urge you to contact us as soon as possible following the death of a member.

The DDRI service stands for the disclosure of death registration information and allows us to receive information about the death of members.

As part of the process, we may issue a physical declaration form where potential matching information is received. This is to ensure there haven’t been any changes to individual circumstances in relation to members. The purpose of requesting a signature is to avoid fraudulent activity to protect members and their families. For more information, please visit the gov.uk website.

We understand it can be upsetting for some people to receive but unfortunately to comply we need you to respond within 28 days of receiving the letter. Failure to do so, could mean pension payments will be stopped and that there may be an overpayment of pension which will need to be recovered.

This has been sent to ensure your personal circumstances haven’t changed and will continue to be sent annually. The easiest way to complete this is by contacting us (by phone or email). We understand it can be upsetting for some people to receive but unfortunately this is in place to protect you and ensure you aren’t overpaid pension payments which would need to be recovered.

This is because if a member had no pensionable employment on or after 1 January 2007, your dependant’s pension will stop if you remarry, enter a civil partnership or cohabit. The dependant’s pension will always cease when the dependant dies

Once we’ve received all the relevant information from you, we’ll write to confirm these figures for your records.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.