When a loved one dies, sorting out their giffgaff account is one of many practical tasks that falls to the people left behind. If you have been searching for a giffgaff phone number to call, you won’t find one — giffgaff operates entirely online, with no traditional customer service phone line. That can feel like a barrier when you are already dealing with a great deal, but the process itself is straightforward once you know where to look.
giffgaff has a dedicated bereavement team you can reach by email. They will close the account, and in some cases can discuss what happens to any remaining credit or goodybag balance. This guide walks you through every step: how to contact the team, what to send, what happens to the account, and the important question of whether the deceased’s number can be transferred or ported to a new SIM.
Quick reference:
- Bereavement email: bereavementteam@giffgaff.com
- No phone line – giffgaff is online only
- Account options: close the account, or keep it active
- Early termination fees: not applicable (giffgaff uses monthly goodybags, not fixed contracts)
- Life Ledger: giffgaff accepts notifications via app.lifeledger.com/giffgaff if you prefer to notify multiple providers at once
How to notify giffgaff
Step 1: Email the bereavement team
Send an email to bereavementteam@giffgaff.com. This is the only direct route for bereavement notifications – there is no phone line, no live chat route, and no online form specifically for bereavement.
In your email, include the following:
| Information | Notes |
|---|---|
| Deceased’s full name | As registered on their giffgaff account |
| giffgaff member username | Check any giffgaff emails or texts they received |
| Mobile number on the account | The SIM’s number – check the handset, or any giffgaff correspondence |
| Deceased’s registered address | As held on the account |
| Your full name and address | So the team can contact you |
| Your relationship to the deceased | Next of kin, executor, family member |
| A copy of the death certificate | A photocopy or scan is accepted |
giffgaff’s help centre confirms that once the bereavement team receives your email, an adviser will contact you to take things forward. At that point you will be given the option to keep the account open or close it down. Source: giffgaff Help – how do I cancel the account of someone who passed away?
Step 2: Wait for the team to respond
After your email is received, giffgaff’s bereavement advisers will get in touch. They are typically reached through the help portal and community support channels – they may reply by email or through the giffgaff messaging system.
Once you are in contact, they will confirm account details and let you know the next steps. If you want to close the account, they will action this. If there are questions about remaining credit, a goodybag, or the phone number, raise them in this exchange.
Using Life Ledger instead
If you are notifying several organisations at once – which is common when dealing with an estate – giffgaff has partnered with Life Ledger (app.lifeledger.com/giffgaff), a service that lets you submit a single death notification to multiple companies. giffgaff is one of the supported organisations. This can save time if you are also dealing with banks, insurers, and other utilities. For a full guide to managing the practical side of estate administration, see our what to do hub.
What you will need
The documentation required by giffgaff is minimal compared to banks or pension providers. The key items are:
A copy of the death certificate. A photocopy or clear scan is accepted – you do not need to send the original. If you have ordered certified copies from the register office, you can keep those for organisations that require originals (banks and some financial institutions). Additional certified copies cost £11 each in England and Wales and can be ordered at any point from the register office (source: gov.uk – order a copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate).
The deceased’s account details. If you know their giffgaff member username – visible on any giffgaff email or account communication – include it. The mobile number on the SIM is usually enough to identify the account if the username is not known.
Your own details. giffgaff will want to know who they are corresponding with. Your name, address, and relationship to the deceased (for example, spouse, son or daughter, executor) are sufficient. You do not need to be the estate executor to close a giffgaff account.
What happens to the account
Closing the account
Once giffgaff processes the closure, the SIM is deactivated and the account is closed. Unlike fixed-term mobile contracts with other networks, giffgaff does not tie customers to long-term agreements – it operates on rolling monthly goodybags, which means there are no early termination fees to worry about.
If the account had an active goodybag with days still remaining, this will lapse when the account closes. giffgaff does not have a published policy of refunding the unused portion of a goodybag.
If the deceased had set up a recurring goodybag – one that renews automatically each month – it is worth asking the bereavement team to stop this as a priority, to prevent a further payment being taken before the account is closed.
Remaining credit balance
giffgaff accounts can hold a cash credit balance as well as a goodybag. If the deceased’s account had credit on it, the standard giffgaff position is that credit balances are not refunded. However, if the balance is significant, it is worth raising this with the bereavement team directly – in some cases they may exercise discretion.
One option giffgaff offers is donating credit to charity by text. If the account can be briefly accessed (for example, if you have the login details), this allows the balance to be used for a charitable purpose rather than simply lapsing.
Keeping the account open
giffgaff’s help page confirms you have the option to keep the account open rather than close it. This could be relevant if the number is still needed for a short period – for example, while other organisations are still sending messages to it, or while estate administration is ongoing. You would need to manage the account login and ensure the goodybag is maintained.
Number porting: keeping the deceased’s number
One question families sometimes have is whether the deceased’s mobile number can be transferred to a new SIM – either to preserve it, or to use it on a different network or account.
Why this is more complicated with giffgaff
With most large networks, the bereavement team can arrange a number transfer directly. With giffgaff, the process is less straightforward. A PAC code (porting authorisation code) – which is what you need to move a number to another network – is normally obtained by the account holder themselves, either by texting PAC to 65075 or logging into their account. When the account holder has died, neither option is available to a family member in the usual way.
The practical route is to contact the bereavement team and ask specifically about the number. Explain that you want to port the number to a new SIM before the account is closed, and ask them to assist. giffgaff’s bereavement advisers should be able to generate a PAC code in these circumstances, but this is not something the standard help documentation explicitly addresses – it is a case-by-case request.
Timing matters. Once giffgaff closes the account and deactivates the SIM, the number cannot be ported or recovered. If keeping the number is a priority, raise it with the team before the account is closed, not after.
If you want to move the number to another giffgaff SIM, a new account would need to be set up in your own name. If you want to move it to a different network – O2, EE, Vodafone, or another – you can use the PAC code with the new provider once you have it.
For context on how number porting works across all UK networks after a death, see what happens to a phone contract when someone dies.
How long it takes
giffgaff does not publish a specific processing time for bereavement cases in the way that some larger networks do. Based on the nature of the process – email-based, handled by a small specialist team – a realistic expectation is one to two weeks for a straightforward account closure.
| Stage | Approximate timescale |
|---|---|
| Initial response from bereavement team | A few working days |
| Account closure confirmed | 1–2 weeks from first contact |
| Goodybag renewal stopped | Sooner if raised as a priority |
| Number porting (if requested) | Requires PAC code – raise at the start |
If you have not received a response within a week, follow up on the same email thread. Keep all email correspondence in case you need to refer back to it.
Things to watch out for
There is no phone number. giffgaff’s community model is built around online self-service. There is no bereavement helpline, no general customer service number, and no way to escalate through a call centre. The email address – bereavementteam@giffgaff.com – is your only route. Some people spend time searching for a number before discovering this. Now you know.
Auto-renewing goodybags. If the deceased’s goodybag was set to renew automatically, a further monthly payment could be triggered before the account is closed. If you have the account login details, you can log in and disable auto-renewal. If not, make it a specific request in your first email to the team.
giffgaff is not the same as O2. giffgaff runs on O2’s network and is owned by Telefónica, O2’s parent company. This does not mean O2’s bereavement team can handle giffgaff accounts – they are separate businesses with separate customer records. You need to contact giffgaff’s own bereavement team, not O2’s. If the deceased had an O2 account as well as giffgaff, both need to be notified separately. See our O2 bereavement guide for O2’s process.
giffgaff agents are members of the community. Some community-based support responses come from trained volunteer members, not giffgaff employees. The bereavement team email goes to giffgaff staff directly, not the community forum. Always use the dedicated email rather than posting in the community for sensitive account matters.
No credit refund by default. Unlike bank accounts or some insurance products, remaining giffgaff credit and unused goodybag time are not automatically refunded to the estate. If the amount is meaningful, it is worth asking – but manage expectations accordingly.
Direct debits. If the deceased had a direct debit set up for their goodybag renewals, it should stop once the account is closed. However, direct debits are managed through the deceased’s bank, not giffgaff. Once the account is closed, check with the bank that no further payments are scheduled.
If you are also dealing with other mobile or broadband accounts, our guides for EE, Vodafone, and Three cover those processes in detail.
Summary
giffgaff does not have a bereavement phone line. To close the account of someone who has died, email bereavementteam@giffgaff.com with the deceased’s name, mobile number, registered address, and giffgaff member username if known, along with your own details and a copy of the death certificate. An adviser will respond and give you the option to close or keep the account.
There are no early termination fees to worry about – giffgaff’s monthly goodybag model means there is no fixed contract. If the deceased had auto-renewing goodybags, ask the team to stop these promptly. If you want to port the number to a new SIM, raise this before the account is closed.
For a broader overview of what happens to mobile accounts after a death – including how number porting works and what to do about outstanding handset finance – see what happens to a phone contract when someone dies.
Information verified against giffgaff’s help centre at help.giffgaff.com and Ofcom’s guidance on notifying a provider of a customer’s death. Last verified: May 2026.