How to notify Scottish Power when someone dies

When someone dies, notifying their energy supplier is one of the practical tasks that needs sorting – not urgently, but soon. Scottish Power has a dedicated bereavement team and a downloadable form you can email in, so you have a choice between calling and doing it in writing. This guide walks through both routes, explains what happens to the account, and flags a few things worth knowing about how Scottish Power handles the process.

Quick reference:

• Bereavement team: 0800 074 1986 (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm)
• Email: contactus@scottishpower.com with completed bereavement form
• Online: scottishpower.co.uk/support-centre/bereavement
• Have ready: Account number, meter reading, forwarding address
• Do not cancel direct debits until the final bill arrives

How to notify Scottish Power of a death

Scottish Power’s dedicated bereavement team can be reached on 0800 074 1986, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. This is a freephone number – there is no charge from a landline or mobile.

If you prefer to do things in writing, Scottish Power offers an email route. Download their bereavement notification form from scottishpower.co.uk/support-centre/bereavement, complete it, and email it to contactus@scottishpower.com along with any supporting documents.

You can also use the live chat on their website during business hours if you prefer not to call.

When you make contact – whether by phone, email, or chat – Scottish Power will need:

• The full name of the person who has died
• The address of the property and account number (from a recent bill)
• The date of death
• A meter reading taken on or close to the date of death
• The name and forwarding address of whoever is handling the estate or will be responsible for the property going forward

You don’t need everything to hand before you call. Scottish Power can take an initial notification and follow up for documents. The key thing is to make contact so that billing is correctly stopped from the date of death.

If you’d rather notify Scottish Power as part of a batch notification – alongside banks, broadband providers and other utilities – services like Life Ledger and Settld can handle this on your behalf. Both services are free to use.

What documents you’ll need

Scottish Power’s requirements are relatively light compared to financial institutions. For most bereavement cases, the core documents are:

Proof of death:

• A copy of the death certificate – a photocopy or scanned copy is acceptable for energy accounts. You do not need to send the original.
• If the coroner is still investigating (and a formal death certificate hasn’t yet been issued), an interim death certificate is generally accepted.

Account information:

• The account number, printed on any ScottishPower bill or accessible through the online account
• The address of the supply property

Meter readings:

• Take final readings from the gas and/or electricity meters on (or as close as possible to) the date of death. A photograph of the meter display is sufficient – timestamped photos from a phone work well.

Forwarding address:

• Where Scottish Power should send the final bill and any correspondence. This is typically the executor’s address, or the address where the estate is being administered.

If the estate is more complex:

• Scottish Power may ask for a Letter of Confirmation (in Scotland) or a Grant of Representation – the grant of probate or letters of administration in England and Wales – if they need to verify who has authority to act on the estate. For most routine energy account closures this is not required, but it’s worth having to hand if probate has been granted.

If you’re ordering death certificate copies from the register office, extra copies cost £11 each in England and Wales (source: gov.uk). For utility notifications, standard copies are generally sufficient – you don’t need certified copies.

What happens to the account

Once Scottish Power has been notified, they will put the account into a bereavement holding state. What happens next depends on the situation at the property.

If someone is continuing to live in the property

If a spouse, partner, or other household member is staying in the property and wants to continue being a Scottish Power customer, Scottish Power can transfer the account into their name. A new account is opened in the new account holder’s name, using the date-of-death meter reading as the starting point.

Any credit on the deceased’s account will be refunded to the estate. Any outstanding balance becomes a debt of the estate.

If the property is now empty

While the property is being dealt with as part of the estate, the account will be placed in the name of the estate (or the executor). Energy charges – including standing charges – continue to accrue until one of the following happens:

• The property is sold and the new owner takes over the energy supply
• A tenant moves in and opens their own account
• You formally arrange for the supply to be disconnected

Standing charges on an empty property add up even if no energy is being used at all. The typical combined gas and electricity standing charge in the UK is around 50–60p per day – roughly £180–220 per year. Notifying Scottish Power early about the property’s status is worthwhile to avoid unnecessary charges accruing against the estate.

Direct debits

Do not cancel the direct debit as soon as you’ve made the notification call. The account will go through a closing process and generate a final bill. If the direct debit is cancelled before that bill arrives, any outstanding balance will need to be paid separately and can complicate the process.

Wait until you receive the final bill before stopping direct debit payments.

Credit refunds

If the account is in credit – which is common where monthly direct debits have been running ahead of actual usage – Scottish Power will issue a refund. The refund process works as follows (source: ScottishPower community support pages):

• If an active direct debit is in place, Scottish Power will refund the credit directly to the bank account within 10 working days of the final bill
• If there is no active direct debit, Scottish Power will issue a cheque in the name of the deceased, to be cashed against the estate, within 10 working days of the final bill

Ask the bereavement team explicitly about any credit balance when you call – don’t assume it will be refunded automatically.

Probate and Scottish Power accounts

Energy accounts are not bank accounts. Scottish Power is a service provider and creditor, not an institution holding the deceased’s assets. This means probate is not required to close or transfer a Scottish Power account in the normal course of events.

If there is a significant credit balance on the account and Scottish Power needs to refund it to the estate, they may ask for evidence of authority – such as the grant of probate or letters of administration – before releasing the funds. In practice, for ordinary household energy accounts, this step is rarely necessary.

If probate is in progress and you need time to sort things out, let the bereavement team know. Scottish Power can hold the account in an interim state while the estate is being administered.

For guidance on the probate process itself, see gov.uk/applying-for-probate. If you’re also handling financial accounts, our guides to notifying Barclays after a bereavement and notifying Lloyds after a bereavement cover how banks handle probate thresholds.

How long does it take?

For a straightforward case – account closed, final bill issued, credit refunded – the typical timeline is 6 to 10 weeks from the date of notification. The main variables are:

• Whether the property is occupied or empty (an occupied property with a new account holder is faster)
• Whether there is a credit or debit balance requiring resolution
• How quickly the death certificate and supporting documents are provided
• Whether probate documentation is needed

If there is a credit to be refunded, Scottish Power aims to issue the payment within 10 working days of the final bill date. The final bill itself usually follows once a closing meter reading has been confirmed.

Keep a record of when you first contacted Scottish Power, any reference number given, and the name of whoever you spoke to. This is useful if there are any follow-up queries or delays.

Things to watch out for

Scottish Power is owned by Iberdrola. Scottish Power was acquired by the Spanish energy company Iberdrola in 2007 and continues to trade under the Scottish Power name. This is worth knowing if you see correspondence mentioning Iberdrola – it is the same company. There are no separate Iberdrola accounts for domestic UK energy customers.

SP Manweb is a network company, not a supplier. Scottish Power acquired Manweb – the regional electricity company for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire – in 1995. The Manweb name was phased out of retail use by 2007. If the deceased was a Manweb energy customer, they will have been billed by Scottish Power for many years. However, SP Manweb Plc still exists as the electricity distribution network operator for that region – it manages the cables and infrastructure, not the energy supply accounts. If you receive a letter from SP Manweb about distribution, it is a different entity from the supply account you need to close with Scottish Power.

Reminder letters may still arrive. Some executors have reported receiving routine billing correspondence even after notifying Scottish Power’s bereavement team. If this happens, call back with your notification reference number and confirm the bereavement status has been logged on the account.

The bereavement number is distinct from general customer service. If you call Scottish Power’s main number and reach a general customer service agent, ask to be transferred to the bereavement team on 0800 074 1986. The bereavement team handles these cases routinely and the process is smoother than going through standard customer service.

An email route exists if you can’t call. The downloadable bereavement form and email route (contactus@scottishpower.com) is useful if you’re managing a complicated estate across multiple organisations and prefer everything in writing. It also creates a paper trail, which can be helpful if there are later queries.

Summary

To notify Scottish Power after a death, call 0800 074 1986 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm) or download the bereavement form at scottishpower.co.uk/support-centre/bereavement and email it to contactus@scottishpower.com. Have the account number, a copy of the death certificate, a meter reading, and a forwarding address ready. Do not cancel the direct debit until you receive the final bill. If there is a credit on the account, it will be refunded within 10 working days of the final bill.

If you’re also dealing with other energy providers, see our guides to notifying British Gas after a bereavement and notifying OVO Energy after a bereavement and notifying EDF after a bereavement.