Costa Coffee is the UK’s most popular coffee chain, with over 2,800 stores and millions of people using the Costa Club loyalty app. For many people, it is a daily habit – and that habit often means a Costa Club account with accumulated Beans, a stored gift card balance, or a registered payment method.
When someone dies, their Costa Club account stays open. The Beans do not expire immediately, the gift card balance remains in place, and the account keeps running until someone contacts Costa and asks for it to be closed. For most estates, this is a lower-priority task than banks or utility accounts – there is no recurring charge and no significant financial asset to protect urgently. But it is worth handling, particularly if the deceased had a substantial Beans balance or an unspent gift card.
Costa Coffee is owned by Whitbread plc. If the deceased also had a Premier Inn hotel booking or a Whitbread-related account, that is a separate matter handled by Premier Inn’s own customer services – the Costa account and the Premier Inn account are entirely distinct. This guide covers the Costa account only.
Quick reference
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Main contact method | Online form – costa.co.uk/contact-form |
| Phone | 0333 003 5883 (general customer services; Mon–Fri 8am–6pm, Sat–Sun 9am–5pm) |
| Head office address | Costa Customer Services, Whitbread Court, Houghton Hall Business Park, Porz Avenue, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 5XE |
| Bereavement team | No dedicated team – handled through general customer services |
| Documents needed | Death certificate; Costa Club email or 16-digit card number |
| Costa Beans | Non-transferable; no cash value; cancelled on account closure |
| Gift cards | Valid for 1 year from purchase; not exchangeable for cash; usable by estate if card is held |
| Costa Club subscription | Costa Club membership is free – no recurring subscription charge |
| Costa Express (vending) | No account required; no separate notification needed |
How to notify Costa Coffee
Costa Coffee has no dedicated bereavement team. There is no specialist phone line for families and no formal deceased-account process in the way that a bank or mortgage provider would have. All requests are handled through Costa’s general customer services.
This is standard for coffee chains and hospitality brands. It does not mean the process will be difficult – it means you will be speaking with a general customer services agent rather than a specialist. Being clear and direct about what you need will help.
Contact methods
Online contact form (recommended): Submit your request at costa.co.uk/contact-form. This is the most reliable route. It creates a written record and avoids queuing on the phone.
Phone: Call 0333 003 5883. This is Costa’s general customer services number, available Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday to Sunday 9am to 5pm. Calls to 0333 numbers are charged at a standard geographic rate (the same as 01/02 numbers) and are usually included in mobile allowances.
Post: Write to Costa Customer Services, Whitbread Court, Houghton Hall Business Park, Porz Avenue, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 5XE.
What to include
Whether you contact Costa by form or phone, include the following:
- The deceased’s full name and the email address registered to their Costa Club account
- The 16-digit Costa Club card number, if you have it (printed on the back of the physical card, or visible in the Costa app under account settings)
- A clear statement that the account holder has died and that you are requesting account closure
- Your name and your relationship to the deceased (next of kin, executor, or administrator)
- An offer to provide a copy of the death certificate – Costa may ask for this
If you have the account login
If you know the deceased’s email address and password, you can sign into the Costa app and request account closure from within the app, or contact Costa through the app’s help section. Before closing the account, note the Beans balance and any gift card registered to the account – you cannot recover them once the account is closed.
(Source: Costa Coffee contact page, last verified May 2026.)
What documents you will need
Costa Coffee’s customer services are likely to ask for the following:
Death certificate. This is the primary document. A scan or clear photograph of the death certificate is usually sufficient when submitting via the online form. If sending by post, consider sending a certified copy rather than the original.
Your own identification. If you are acting as executor or administrator of the estate, it is helpful to have identification ready, though Costa may not formally request it in the way a bank would.
Account details. The email address on the deceased’s Costa Club account, or the 16-digit card number, helps Costa locate the account quickly. These can usually be found in the deceased’s email inbox (look for a Costa Club registration or newsletter) or on the Costa Club card itself.
Grant of probate or letters of administration. Costa is unlikely to require these for a standard account closure – unlike a bank, there is no financial asset to release. But if you want to discuss the Beans balance or dispute any account activity, having these documents available demonstrates your authority to act on behalf of the estate.
If you do not have the Costa Club card number and cannot access the email account, contact Costa with as much detail as you can: full name, date of birth, postal address. They can search their system from those details.
What happens to Costa Club Beans
Costa Beans are the loyalty currency of the Costa Club programme. Members earn one Bean for each handcrafted drink they buy (or after every five purchases if they use a reusable cup). Collect eight Beans and the next drink is free.
Beans have no cash value
Costa Beans cannot be exchanged for money. They are redeemable only for free drinks and certain rewards within the Costa app. This is consistent with virtually all UK loyalty points schemes: under the Costa Club terms, Beans cannot be transferred, sold, or converted to cash.
This means the Beans in the deceased’s account are not an asset of the estate in any meaningful financial sense. They cannot be inherited, liquidated, or passed to another person. The question is simply whether any Beans can be redeemed before the account is closed.
Can you redeem Beans before closing the account?
If you have access to the deceased’s phone and Costa app, and you have their account login, you could in principle redeem the Beans for free drinks before requesting account closure. Whether that is appropriate is a matter of personal judgement and the practical circumstances. There is no legal requirement to recover loyalty points before closing an account.
If you do not have login access, the Beans will be cancelled when the account closes. Costa has indicated it will process account closure on notification of death – and once the account is closed, the Beans are gone.
Transfer requests
According to guidance provided by Costa to bereavement notification services, Costa Club should be able to transfer points to another account on request. In practice, this is not guaranteed and is not a published, documented policy. If the deceased had a large Beans balance and a family member who is a Costa Club member, it is worth asking Costa customer services whether a transfer is possible. Be prepared for the answer to be no.
Inactivity expiry
Under Costa Club terms, Beans expire if the account is inactive for 12 consecutive months – meaning no Beans earned or redeemed in that period. If a significant time has passed since the deceased last used their account, check the Beans balance before contacting Costa to see whether any are still active.
Beans are redeemable in Costa stores and via the Costa app’s mobile order function, but not at Costa Express vending machines.
(Source: Costa Club terms of use and LifeLedger Costa Coffee guide, last verified May 2026.)
What happens to Costa gift cards
Costa gift cards are sold through Costa stores, Costa’s own gifting website at gifting.costa.co.uk, and various third-party retailers including Argos and Amazon. They come as both physical cards and digital e-gift cards.
Expiry
Costa gift cards are valid for one year from the date of purchase. After that, the remaining balance expires and cannot be spent or refunded. If the deceased had a Costa gift card, check the expiry date before deciding whether to use it.
Cash value
Costa gift cards cannot be exchanged for cash. They are redeemable in Costa stores only (not at Costa Express machines). This is standard for UK gift cards.
Usability by the estate
Physical Costa gift cards are not registered to a specific named account. Anyone who holds the card can use it in a Costa store. If the deceased had a physical gift card at home, the estate can use the remaining balance without needing to contact Costa.
Digital e-gift cards work slightly differently: they are sent to an email address. If the e-gift card is in the deceased’s email inbox, and you have access to that inbox, you can retrieve and use the code. The code is not registered to a Costa account and does not require login.
If a gift card was registered to the deceased’s Costa Club account within the app, accessing it requires the app login. Note the card number before requesting account closure.
(Source: Costa Coffee gift card terms and conditions, last verified May 2026.)
Costa Coffee subscriptions
Costa Club membership is free. There is no paid monthly subscription for the loyalty programme itself.
Costa has offered a barista-made drink subscription in the past (marketed as a “Coffee Club” subscription, distinct from the free Costa Club loyalty scheme), but as of May 2026 this is not an active product on the UK market. If the deceased signed up to a trial or early version of such a subscription, check their bank or card statements for any recurring Costa Coffee charge and contact Costa customer services to cancel it and request a refund of any payment taken after the date of death.
For most accounts, there will be no subscription to cancel. The main action is closing the Costa Club loyalty account.
If the deceased had any standing orders or direct debits to Costa Coffee for bulk gift card top-ups or catering orders through Costa’s business account service, those should be cancelled directly with the bank rather than relying on Costa to stop them.
(Source: Costa Club overview, last verified May 2026.)
How long it takes
Costa Coffee’s customer services team does not publish a specific turnaround time for account closure following a bereavement notification. Based on general customer services response times for Costa, expect a response within five to ten working days if you use the online contact form.
If you call 0333 003 5883, account closure may be processed more quickly during the call or shortly after, depending on the agent’s process.
There are no financial consequences to a slight delay in closing a Costa account. Unlike a bank or a subscription service, there are no charges accruing and no financial assets at risk of expiring in days. Take a few weeks if needed.
Things to watch out for
Beans expiry on inactivity. If the account has been inactive for close to 12 months, the Beans may expire before you get round to contacting Costa. If there is a meaningful Beans balance, check the account sooner rather than later.
Gift card expiry. Costa gift cards have a one-year validity from purchase date, not from when you discover them. If the deceased was given a Costa gift card a year or more ago, it may already have expired. Check the card for an expiry date or use the balance-check tool at gifting.costa.co.uk/balance-check.
Costa Express machines. Costa Express is Costa’s self-serve vending machine network, installed in motorway services, hospitals, and convenience stores. Costa Express machines typically require no account registration – they operate on a pay-per-use basis. There is usually no separate account to close.
Whitbread hotel bookings. If the deceased had an upcoming Premier Inn reservation (Premier Inn is also owned by Whitbread), that is handled entirely separately through Premier Inn’s customer services – it has nothing to do with the Costa account.
App stored payment methods. If the deceased used the Costa app for mobile ordering, their payment card may be stored within the app. Closing the account will remove the stored card, but if you want to remove just the card without closing the account, you can do so from the app’s payment settings. Either way, this does not affect the underlying card – contact the card issuer separately if needed.
Summary
For most estates, the Costa Coffee account is a straightforward closure: contact customer services with the account details and a copy of the death certificate, and the account will be closed. The Beans are not a financial asset and cannot be inherited. Any physical gift card or digital code can be used by the estate before the expiry date.
| Task | How to do it | Contact or link |
|---|---|---|
| Close the Costa Club account | Submit online form with deceased's name, email, and death certificate | costa.co.uk/contact-form or 0333 003 5883 |
| Check Beans balance | Sign into the Costa app with the deceased's credentials before requesting closure | Costa app |
| Redeem or note gift card balance | Use in any Costa store, or check balance at gifting.costa.co.uk | gifting.costa.co.uk/balance-check |
| Check for subscription charges | Review bank statements for any recurring Costa charge and cancel with Costa if found | costa.co.uk/contact-form |
| Remove stored payment method | Via Costa app payment settings, or account closure will remove it automatically | Costa app |
Costa customer services can be reached via the online form at costa.co.uk/contact-form or by phone on 0333 003 5883 (Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday to Sunday 9am to 5pm). The postal address is Costa Customer Services, Whitbread Court, Houghton Hall Business Park, Porz Avenue, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU5 5XE.
For broader guidance on digital accounts and loyalty programmes after a death, see our guide to what happens to subscriptions when someone dies. For a full overview of who to notify and when, visit the what to do after someone dies hub.