Clearpay is one of the UK’s most widely used buy now, pay later (BNPL) services, with millions of customers splitting purchases into four fortnightly instalments. When someone dies with outstanding Clearpay plans, those instalments do not disappear – they become liabilities of the estate, and the executor needs to act promptly to avoid late fees accumulating on an account no one is monitoring.
This guide explains how to notify Clearpay, what happens to outstanding instalments and pending orders, how to handle returns, and what to watch out for during estate administration. If the deceased also had a Klarna account, that requires a separate notification process – see our guide to notifying Klarna when someone dies.
Quick reference:
- Online support form: help.clearpay.co.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new
- Phone: No dedicated phone line – contact is through the online form
- Documents needed: Death certificate, your photo ID, deceased’s account details
- Outstanding instalments: Become estate liabilities; Clearpay may charge late fees until notified
- No cash balance: Clearpay holds no money on behalf of customers. The only liability is outstanding debt.
How to notify Clearpay
Clearpay does not have a dedicated bereavement team or a published bereavement phone number. All deceased account enquiries are handled through their general support form.
The process is straightforward but requires you to gather the deceased’s account details before starting. Clearpay’s help centre blocks automated access, so you may not be able to browse it without logging in – use the direct form link below.
Step-by-step
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to help.clearpay.co.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new |
| 2 | Select the appropriate enquiry category – look for account closure or bereavement |
| 3 | Provide the deceased’s full name, date of birth, date of death, and usual address |
| 4 | Upload a scan or photograph of the death certificate (interim certificate is accepted) |
| 5 | Upload your own photo ID to confirm your identity |
| 6 | Submit and wait – Clearpay will contact you if they need further documentation |
If you cannot access the form: You can also send a written letter to Clearpay Finance Limited, 101 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6XH, enclosing copies of the death certificate and your ID. Allow extra time for postal contact.
If you don’t have the account email address: Clearpay should be able to locate the account using the deceased’s full name, date of birth, and address. Include all available details in the form notes.
Once Clearpay confirms receipt of the notification, they should suspend the account to prevent further purchases and stop scheduled instalment payments from processing. Keep a record of your submission date and reference number.
(Source: Life Ledger – how to report a death to Clearpay, verified May 2026; Clearpay Terms of Service, verified May 2026.)
What documents you will need
Clearpay’s requirements for deceased account queries follow the standard pattern for financial services, with a small core set always required and additional documents depending on the estate’s situation.
Always required:
- Death certificate – a scan or photograph of the original, interim, or coroner’s certificate. Clearpay accepts digital copies submitted through the support form.
- Your photo ID – a current UK passport or driving licence. All four corners should be visible in the photograph.
- Deceased’s account details – full legal name, date of birth, date of death, and usual address. Include the email address linked to the Clearpay account if you know it.
Depending on your circumstances:
| Situation | Additional documents |
|---|---|
| You are acting as executor | Grant of probate or letters of administration (if obtained) |
| A solicitor is handling the estate | Solicitor’s letter of authority |
| You need Clearpay to provide a balance summary | Probate documents may be required before Clearpay releases account details |
| Significant outstanding debt | Clearpay may request formal authority before agreeing to any settlement |
You do not need to have probate in place to make the initial notification – submit the death certificate and your ID, and Clearpay will tell you what else they need for your specific circumstances.
If you need additional certified copies of the death certificate, each copy costs £12.50 in England and Wales, ordered from the General Register Office at gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate. It is worth ordering several when you first register the death.
What happens to outstanding instalments
This is the most important question for executors managing an estate with Clearpay activity.
Instalments are estate liabilities. Outstanding Clearpay balances do not disappear when an account holder dies. Each active Clearpay plan – a purchase split into four fortnightly payments – has a remaining balance that becomes a debt of the estate, in exactly the same way as a credit card balance or catalogue debt. (Source: MoneyHelper – dealing with the debts of someone who has died.)
Surviving family members are not personally liable. Only the person who entered the Clearpay agreement can be held liable for it. Spouses, children, and parents are not responsible for a sole debt, unless they were a joint borrower – and Clearpay’s Pay in 4 product does not support joint agreements. The debt belongs to the estate, not to you personally.
What happens if payments stop. Clearpay’s standard terms apply until you notify them. If an instalment falls due and is not paid, Clearpay applies a late fee of £6 on the day after the due date, and a further £6 if still unpaid after seven days. For purchases over £24, these fees are capped at the lower of £24 or 25% of the original purchase price. (Source: Clearpay Terms of Service, verified May 2026.) This means the sooner you notify Clearpay, the less risk of fees accumulating on an account no one is managing.
If the estate can pay. Outstanding Clearpay plans are settled from the estate’s funds as part of normal estate administration. The executor pays valid debts before distributing anything to beneficiaries. Clearpay, as an unsecured creditor, is paid at the appropriate stage in the priority order.
If the estate cannot pay. If debts exceed the estate’s assets, Clearpay – as an unsecured creditor – may receive a reduced payment or nothing at all, depending on how far down the priority order the estate reaches. Clearpay’s terms state they may refer unpaid debts to a debt collection agency, but this process applies to living customers. For deceased accounts, Clearpay should engage with the executor rather than pursue aggressive collection. If you experience inappropriate contact, you can escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service (see the FCA regulation note below).
A note on regulation. Clearpay’s Pay in 4 product currently operates as unregulated credit, exempt from FCA consumer credit rules under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This means standard Consumer Credit Act protections – including Section 75 claims – do not apply. The UK government has legislated to bring BNPL under full FCA oversight from 15 July 2026, when affordability checks and FCA consumer protection rules will apply to providers including Clearpay. Until that date, the product remains unregulated. (Source: FCA – BNPL regulation PS26/1; Clearpay Policy, verified May 2026.)
No cash balance held. Unlike PayPal, Clearpay holds no money on behalf of customers. The account is a credit facility only – there are no funds to recover. The estate’s only interaction with Clearpay is settling outstanding debt, not retrieving an asset.
(Source: National Debtline – debts after death, England and Wales; gov.uk – dealing with the deceased’s estate.)
What happens to pending orders
If the deceased had recently placed an order that had not yet been delivered at the time of death, the estate may need to take action depending on whether the goods are wanted.
Items not yet shipped: Contact the retailer directly to cancel the order and request a refund. Most UK retailers will cancel unshipped orders on request, particularly in bereavement circumstances. Once the retailer processes the cancellation, any payment already collected by Clearpay should be credited back to the Clearpay plan, reducing the outstanding balance.
Items already dispatched: You may still be able to return goods to the retailer under their standard returns policy, particularly for unwanted items. Contact the retailer first, not Clearpay – the refund flows back through the retailer to Clearpay, reducing what the estate owes.
Items wanted by the estate: If the deceased’s beneficiaries want to keep an ordered item, the estate is liable for the full purchase price, including any remaining Clearpay instalments. There is no mechanism to cancel the Clearpay plan and keep the goods.
Once you notify Clearpay of the death, flag any pending or disputed orders in your notification. Clearpay should provide an account overview including all active plans once they verify your documents.
Returns and refunds
Where the estate is returning items purchased through Clearpay, the refund process works through the retailer rather than directly through Clearpay.
How it works: The retailer processes the return and issues a refund back to the Clearpay plan that funded the purchase. Clearpay then applies the refund amount to reduce the outstanding instalment balance. If the refund exceeds what remains outstanding on that specific plan, the surplus is typically held as a Clearpay account credit – this would need to be settled as part of closing the account.
Retailer vs Clearpay responsibility: The retailer’s normal returns policy governs whether a return is accepted. If a retailer refuses a return, that is a matter between the estate and the retailer – Clearpay cannot force a return acceptance. Contact the retailer directly to resolve disputes about specific items before escalating to Clearpay.
What to keep in mind: Refunds on Clearpay purchases do not go back to the original bank account or card – they reduce the Clearpay plan balance. If the estate has already paid off the plan in full, the refund may result in a credit that Clearpay would need to pay out to the estate. Raise this with Clearpay when you notify them of the death.
Closing the account
Once all outstanding Clearpay plans are settled, the account can be formally closed. Under Clearpay’s terms, account closure requires all outstanding balances – including any accumulated late fees – to be paid in full before closure is confirmed.
Clearpay’s terms allow customers to request account closure at any time through the app, but for deceased accounts the process must go through the support form route rather than the app.
Steps to close the account:
- Notify Clearpay of the death using the support form (see above)
- Obtain a full account summary from Clearpay, listing all active plans and outstanding balances
- Settle all outstanding balances from the estate’s funds (or confirm with Clearpay that the balance is being written off if the estate is insolvent)
- Confirm with Clearpay that all plans are closed and request written confirmation that the account is closed
- Keep this confirmation with the estate’s records
There is no need to “cancel” a direct debit with Clearpay separately – Clearpay collects payments from the linked debit card or bank account rather than via a formal direct debit mandate. Once the deceased’s bank account is frozen (which happens when you notify the bank of the death), Clearpay’s ability to collect further payments stops. Notify the bank first, then follow up with Clearpay.
(Source: Clearpay Terms of Service, verified May 2026.)
Tips and things to watch out for
Check the Clearpay app before anything else. If you have lawful access to the deceased’s phone or tablet, the Clearpay app shows all active orders, upcoming payment dates, and the linked payment card in one place. This is the quickest way to get a complete picture of outstanding activity before submitting the notification form.
Multiple active plans. Clearpay does not limit customers to one active plan at a time. The deceased may have had several simultaneous Pay in 4 agreements across different retailers – a clothing order, a homeware purchase, an electronics item, each with remaining instalments. The account overview Clearpay provides after notification should capture all of these, but checking the app first gives you a head start.
Late fees accrue until Clearpay is notified. Unlike a bank account (which is typically frozen quickly once the bank is informed), Clearpay will apply late fees to missed instalments until you formally notify them. If there are imminent payment dates, notify Clearpay as soon as possible – even a brief note via the support form explaining the circumstances may prompt them to freeze the account while you gather documents.
Linked card or bank account. Clearpay collects instalment payments directly from the debit card or bank account the customer linked to their account. As part of notifying the deceased’s bank, ask the bank’s bereavement team to freeze or close the linked account. This prevents Clearpay from collecting further payments automatically. Do not rely on Clearpay doing this themselves.
No phone support. Clearpay does not provide a dedicated phone line for deceased account queries. All communication goes through the online support form. If you need urgent assistance – for example, a large order in transit or a payment due within days – state this clearly in the form and request urgent handling.
Block Inc. – no other UK consumer products. Clearpay is owned by Block Inc. (formerly Square, the US fintech company). In the UK, Clearpay is the only consumer-facing product under the Block Inc. umbrella. You do not need to separately notify any other Block Inc. entity. (This is different from some other financial groups where one notification covers multiple products.) Clearpay operates through its UK entity, Clearpay Finance Limited (Companies House number 05198026, registered at 101 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6XH). (Source: Companies House – Clearpay Finance Limited, verified May 2026.)
Clearpay vs Klarna. If the deceased used both Clearpay and Klarna, these are entirely separate companies requiring separate notifications. They do not share account information or bereavement processes. See our Klarna bereavement guide for the Klarna-specific process, which differs in several ways – Klarna has a dedicated bereavement web form, accepts phone queries, and offers longer-term regulated financing products that Clearpay does not.
Summary
To notify Clearpay of a death, submit the support form at help.clearpay.co.uk/hc/en-gb/requests/new with the deceased’s details, a copy of the death certificate, and your photo ID. Clearpay will contact you if they need anything further and should provide an account summary listing all active plans.
Outstanding Clearpay instalments are debts of the estate. Surviving family members are not personally liable, provided they were not joint borrowers (which Clearpay’s product does not support). The estate pays what it can; if it is insolvent, Clearpay as an unsecured creditor may receive nothing.
Notify the deceased’s bank first to freeze the linked debit card or account – this stops Clearpay collecting further payments automatically. Then notify Clearpay as quickly as possible to prevent late fees accumulating on plans that are no longer being monitored.
For broader guidance, see our complete what-to-do hub, our guide to what happens to direct debits when someone dies, and our guide to what happens to subscriptions when someone dies.