Boots is part of everyday life for a large part of the UK population. The person who has died may have held a Boots Advantage Card with a balance worth real money, registered with Boots Opticians for glasses or contact lenses, relied on Boots pharmacy for NHS or private prescriptions, or used Boots Hearingcare for hearing aids. Each of these is handled separately, and some require a different contact route.
This guide covers all four areas: the Advantage Card, Boots Opticians, Boots Hearingcare, and the pharmacy. You do not need to have everything resolved before you make the first call – notifying Boots of the death is the priority, and their teams can guide you through the rest.
Quick reference:
- Boots Advantage Card bereavement: 0345 070 8090 – Mon–Fri 8am–6pm
- Boots Advantage Card email: boots.customercare_team@boots.co.uk
- Boots Opticians customer care: 0345 125 3752 – Mon–Fri 8:30am–6:30pm, Sat 8:45am–5pm, Sun 10am–5pm
- Boots Hearingcare: 0345 270 0999 – Mon–Fri 8am–6pm, Sat 8:30am–5:30pm
- Documents needed: death certificate and Advantage Card number
- Advantage Card points: can be transferred to another Advantage Card holder (1p per point)
How to contact Boots
Boots does not have a single central bereavement team that covers all its services. The Advantage Card, Boots Opticians, and Boots Hearingcare operate as distinct entities with separate contact lines.
Boots Advantage Card – by phone
The primary route for Advantage Card bereavement is by telephone. Call 0345 070 8090, Monday to Friday, 8am–6pm. When you call, explain that you are notifying Boots of the death of a cardholder. The team will take the relevant details and guide you through the next steps, including what happens to any points balance.
Boots Advantage Card – by email
You can also contact the customer care team at boots.customercare_team@boots.co.uk. Email is useful if you want a written record of the notification or if you need to attach a copy of the death certificate. Quote the Boots Advantage Card number in the subject line, if you have it.
By post
Boots Advantage Card correspondence can be sent to:
Boots Advantage Card
1 Thane Road West
Nottingham
NG2 3AA
What to have ready when you call
Before you contact Boots, gather the following:
- The 16-digit Boots Advantage Card number (printed on the front of the card, or available through the deceased’s Boots account online)
- The deceased’s full name, date of birth, date of death, and usual address
- A copy or scan of the death certificate – Boots may ask you to email this, so a digital copy is useful
- Your own name and contact details as executor or next of kin
If you cannot find the Advantage Card itself, the number may be saved in the Boots app on the deceased’s phone, or visible in any email correspondence from Boots. You can also ask Boots customer care to locate the account using the deceased’s name, date of birth, and address.
Boots Advantage Card: what happens to the account
The Boots Advantage Card is one of the most widely held loyalty cards in the UK, with many people accumulating significant balances over years of purchases. When a cardholder dies, those points do not automatically expire or disappear – but acting promptly ensures the balance is preserved.
How much are the points worth?
Boots Advantage Card points are worth 1p each. A balance of 5,000 points equals £50 of spending power; 10,000 points equals £100. Points can only be redeemed in-store or online at Boots – they cannot be converted to cash.
The points balance forms part of the deceased’s estate. However, because the balance can only be spent at Boots rather than converted to cash, it is generally treated as a specific Boots asset rather than a liquid estate asset. (Source: Boots Advantage Card terms and conditions.)
Can points be transferred?
Boots does allow points to be transferred to another Advantage Card holder. To arrange a transfer, you will need:
- The deceased’s Boots Advantage Card number
- The name of the person to receive the transferred points
- Their Boots Advantage Card number
Contact Boots Customer Care on 0345 070 8090 or email boots.customercare_team@boots.co.uk to request the transfer. This is the most common way to handle the balance – a family member or the named executor can have the points moved to their own card before the account is closed. (Source: Kings Court Trust – what happens to loyalty points when you die.)
Whether the executor can instead redeem the points against a Boots purchase before closure – rather than transferring them – varies depending on the circumstances. It is worth asking Boots directly when you call, as policies can be applied with some discretion in bereavement situations.
What if I want to redeem the points first?
If you have or can access the deceased’s login details for Boots.com, you can check the account balance and in some cases redeem points online before formally notifying Boots of the death. However, once you have notified Boots and the account is frozen, online redemption will no longer be possible.
There is no obligation to do this – Boots’ bereavement team can arrange a transfer after notification. But if the balance is large and you would like to convert it to Boots purchases (for example, to pay for toiletries or healthcare items), it is worth exploring before the account is formally closed.
Account closure timeline
Boots typically takes 1–3 weeks to process a bereavement notification and close the account, once all required information has been received. During this period the account is effectively frozen – no new points can be earned, and no transactions can be made. (Source: Farra – How to Close a Boots Advantage Card After a Death.)
If you hold a joint or linked Advantage Card account with the deceased, speak to Boots about whether those linked accounts are affected by the closure.
Digital accounts and the Boots app
If the deceased had a Boots.com account linked to their Advantage Card, that account will be closed alongside the card. Any stored payment methods, purchase history, and subscriptions (such as repeat orders from Boots.com) will end. If you need to retrieve any order history for tax or estate purposes, do so before the account is formally closed.
Boots Opticians
If the deceased was a registered patient at Boots Opticians – for glasses, contact lenses, or regular eye tests – you should notify the practice. Boots Opticians operates as a separate division with its own customer care team.
How to contact Boots Opticians
Phone: Call 0345 125 3752 – Monday to Friday, 8:30am–6:30pm; Saturday, 8:45am–5pm; Sunday, 10am–5pm.
Email: boots.customercare@boots.co.uk
Post: Boots Opticians Customer Care, D90 EF05, Thane Road, Nottinghamshire, NG90 1BS
In store: For matters relating to an outstanding order (glasses or contact lenses that had been ordered but not collected), the simplest route is often to speak directly with the local Boots Opticians branch. They will have access to the patient’s order records.
Outstanding glasses or contact lens orders
If the deceased had glasses or contact lenses on order at the time of death, the estate may be entitled to a refund for items not yet collected. Contact the local branch or Boots Opticians customer care to discuss the specific circumstances. A copy of the death certificate will be required.
Prescription records
Boots Opticians holds prescription records for its registered patients. These are healthcare records and are subject to data protection law. As executor or next of kin, you can request that the records be retained or destroyed, though in practice they will be retained in line with standard health record retention requirements. You do not need to take any specific action on prescriptions – they are not assets of the estate.
Franchise arrangements
Some Boots Opticians practices operate as franchises rather than directly by Boots. In these cases, the store manager handles patient records locally. If you are dealing with an outstanding order at a franchise location, it is best to contact that branch directly rather than the central customer care line.
Boots Hearingcare
Boots Hearingcare is a separate service from Boots pharmacy and Boots Opticians. It provides hearing tests, hearing aids, and ongoing audiology support from dedicated hearing care centres. If the deceased was a Boots Hearingcare patient, the estate may need to deal with hearing aids on loan, outstanding service appointments, or ongoing maintenance contracts.
How to contact Boots Hearingcare
Phone: 0345 270 0999 – Monday to Friday, 8am–6pm; Saturday, 8:30am–5:30pm; Sunday, closed. Calls are charged at local rates.
Email: info@bootshearingcare.co.uk
Hearing aids and equipment
If the deceased held hearing aids supplied or serviced through Boots Hearingcare, contact them to clarify whether the devices were purchased outright or supplied under a service plan. The position differs:
- Purchased devices: These are an asset of the estate. They can be returned (though most hearing aid providers do not offer refunds on opened and fitted devices), retained as part of the estate, or donated – some charities accept hearing aids for refurbishment.
- Service plan or rental: If the hearing aids were supplied under a monthly service plan, notify Boots Hearingcare promptly to cancel the plan and avoid further charges.
Boots Hearingcare will be able to advise on the specific arrangement when you call.
NHS prescriptions and pharmacy records
Boots is one of the largest NHS pharmacy dispensing contractors in the UK, dispensing NHS prescriptions through thousands of branches. It is important to understand the distinction between NHS prescription arrangements and Boots’ own records.
NHS repeat prescriptions
NHS repeat prescriptions are managed by the deceased’s GP surgery, not by Boots. When someone dies, their GP surgery is automatically notified through the death registration process, and repeat prescriptions are cancelled at that point. You do not need to contact Boots specifically to cancel an NHS repeat prescription – cancellation happens at source.
If the deceased was registered with the NHS’s Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) and had nominated Boots as their dispensing pharmacy, that nomination ends automatically when the GP surgery updates their records. If there are outstanding repeat prescriptions already sent to Boots but not yet collected, inform the pharmacy so these can be returned to stock.
Unused medicines
Boots and other NHS pharmacies cannot take back unused prescription medicines for re-dispensing – this is a legal restriction. However, Boots can safely dispose of unwanted medicines. Take any unused prescription drugs to the nearest Boots branch and hand them to the pharmacy team. They will dispose of them safely and free of charge.
Private prescriptions
If the deceased held private prescriptions dispensed through Boots (for example, private medication or private optical prescriptions), those records are held by Boots pharmacy. Boots is required to retain private prescription records for a minimum of two years, and patient medical records for 10 years from the date of death, in line with NHS guidelines. (Source: NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service – prescription and dispensing records in community pharmacy.) You do not need to take any action on these records – retention is automatic.
Boots Prescriptions Plus
If the deceased used Boots’ online repeat prescription service (Boots Prescriptions Plus), contact the service on 0345 121 9040 to notify them and cancel the service.
Documents you’ll need
The table below summarises the documents required for each Boots service.
| Service | Documents needed |
|---|---|
| Boots Advantage Card | Death certificate (copy or scan); Advantage Card number; your contact details |
| Boots Opticians | Death certificate (copy); patient’s name, date of birth, and branch |
| Boots Hearingcare | Death certificate (copy); patient’s name and any device or plan details |
| Boots pharmacy | No formal notification required (GP handles NHS prescription cancellation) |
In all cases, a scan or clear photograph of the death certificate is accepted – you do not need to send an original. If you are acting as executor rather than next of kin, it is worth having a copy of the grant of probate or letters of administration to hand, though Boots Advantage Card does not routinely require this for account closure.
If you need additional certified copies of the death certificate, they cost £12.50 each in England and Wales and can be ordered from the General Register Office at gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate.
How long it takes
For the Boots Advantage Card, the standard processing time once all required information has been received is 1–3 weeks. This covers both the account freeze and any points transfer to another cardholder.
Boots Opticians and Boots Hearingcare do not publish specific bereavement processing timescales, but in practice outstanding order queries and service plan cancellations are usually resolved within a similar timeframe. Outstanding orders with a refund due may take slightly longer as the refund needs to be processed.
There is no published time limit on when you must notify Boots after a death, but acting sooner rather than later avoids complications – particularly if the deceased had a large points balance or outstanding orders.
Quick reference summary
| Contact | Phone | Hours | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boots Advantage Card | 0345 070 8090 | boots.customercare_team@boots.co.uk | Mon–Fri 8am–6pm |
| Boots Opticians | 0345 125 3752 | boots.customercare@boots.co.uk | Mon–Fri 8:30am–6:30pm, Sat–Sun limited |
| Boots Hearingcare | 0345 270 0999 | info@bootshearingcare.co.uk | Mon–Fri 8am–6pm, Sat 8:30am–5:30pm |
| Boots pharmacy | n/a – contact the local branch | – | Varies by branch |
Have ready: death certificate (copy or scan), Boots Advantage Card number, deceased’s full name, date of birth, date of death, and usual address.
For broader guidance on what to do after a death, see our complete what-to-do guide. If the deceased also shopped at other major retailers, see our guides on how to notify Tesco when someone dies, how to notify Asda when someone dies (Asda Rewards, Asda Mobile, and Asda Money), how to notify Argos when someone dies, and how to notify M&S when someone dies.
If you are sorting out a digital account alongside the Advantage Card, our guide on what happens to digital assets when you die explains the broader picture for online accounts and loyalty schemes.
If you are unsure whether probate is needed before you can deal with the estate, see do I need probate?.