Nearly 90% of people find the process of contacting individual companies to close the accounts and subscriptions of someone who has died, difficult or very difficult, according to a new survey.
It’s voted one of the most painful aspects of all tasks linked to dealing with the death of a loved one, with 88% of people finding it hard.
In addition, the top three priorities for those considering their own end-of-life planning, according to the survey, were: writing a will and estate planning (74%), buying life insurance (48%), and compiling a list of final wishes (46%).
The research was conducted by end-of-life admin service Settld, which has developed an award-winning secure service for bereavement account administration. Settld also founded the campaign for better ‘Bereavement Standards’ with national bereavement charity, Cruse Bereavement Support.
Vicky Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Settld, said: “This survey shows exactly why Settld’s service is so badly needed in the UK and why we have fought for much better standards of customer service for those dealing with the death of a loved one.
“Settld eliminates a huge amount of admin stress for bereaved individuals, because using our free online service means they no longer have to contact individual service providers and repeat the same words: “my loved one has died” over and over again.
“We are also helping to cut costs and improve efficiency for a growing number of service providers who use our technology to streamline their processes. In this way, we are working towards more consistent Bereavement Standards.”
Launched last year, Settld enables members of the public to notify more than 800 companies of a death, from banks and insurers to energy firms, mobile providers, subscription services, social media platforms and others.
In addition to notifying service providers, Settld’s online service also helps users close, transfer or amend accounts and obtain date of death balances for probate. The vast majority of the communication with service providers is handled by Settld and tracked in an online dashboard which can be accessed at any time.
Settld’s growing business-to-business service also streamlines and digitises bereavement processes for large companies, by offering a solution specifically designed for bereaved and vulnerable customers, which can achieve up to 50% reduction in cost to serve customers, along with significantly reduced call handling volumes.
Settld – which bereaved users can access at www.settld.care – consistently receives 5-star reviews from members of the public, who appreciate the one-stop-shop, free automated service.
