Specsavers has no bereavement team – call 0808 172 0072

Specsavers is the UK’s largest optical chain, with around 900 stores across the country operating under a joint-venture partnership model. If the person who has died was a Specsavers customer, there may be several things to deal with: a contact lens subscription paid by monthly direct debit, hearing aids purchased in store, an outstanding glasses or contact lens order, or simply a patient record and an online account that needs closing.

Unlike a bank or an insurer, Specsavers has no central bereavement team. Contact routes vary depending on what the deceased had with them, and because most stores are locally owned and managed, your first port of call for anything prescription-related or involving physical products is usually the store the person attended.

This guide explains what to notify, who to contact, and what to expect.

Quick reference:

• Specsavers customer service: 0808 172 0072 – Mon–Fri 8am–8pm, Sat 9am–5pm, Sun closed
• Email: customerservice@specsavers.co.uk
• Live chat: available on specsavers.co.uk daily 9am–10pm
• Contact lens (easycare) cancellation: 0808 172 0072 or via the local store
• Hearing aid aftercare: contact the local Specsavers store that provided the hearing aids
• Documents needed: death certificate (copy or scan), deceased’s full name, date of birth, date of death, and usual address

How to notify Specsavers

Specsavers does not publish a dedicated bereavement page or a separate bereavement telephone number. The primary route for general account matters – including closing an online account and notifying them of a death – is the main customer service line.

Phone: Call 0808 172 0072, Monday to Friday 8am–8pm, Saturday 9am–5pm. Explain that you are calling following the death of a customer and ask the team to note the death on the account. They will confirm what further steps are needed and, where relevant, direct you to the appropriate team or store.

Email: You can write to customerservice@specsavers.co.uk. Specsavers aims to reply within 48 hours. Email is useful if you want a written record of the notification, or if you need to attach a copy of the death certificate.

Live chat: Available on specsavers.co.uk daily between 9am and 10pm. Useful for straightforward account queries, though for bereavement matters a phone call or email is generally more appropriate.

In store: For anything involving prescription records, outstanding glasses orders, or hearing aid aftercare, the local Specsavers store is the right first contact. Specsavers stores are individually managed by their own partners (optometrists and retail managers) who co-own each location. Central customer service can forward queries to the local store, but going directly to the branch where the person was a registered patient is often faster.

What to have ready

Before making contact, gather the following if you can:

• The deceased’s full name and usual address
• Date of birth and date of death
• Their email address, if registered with Specsavers
• Any order reference numbers (glasses or contact lens orders)
• The local Specsavers store they attended, if known

You do not need everything to make the first call. The team can locate accounts using name and date of birth.

Source: Specsavers contact us, verified May 2026; Life Ledger – how to inform Specsavers of a death, verified May 2026.

The easycare contact lens subscription

Specsavers’ easycare package is a monthly direct debit subscription that provides contact lenses delivered to the door, along with an annual eye test, a free contact lens health check, and up to five pairs of daily replacement lenses (or two reusable pairs) per year for lenses lost or damaged. Monthly payments typically range from around £15 to £35 depending on the lens type and replacement frequency selected. The subscription continues until explicitly cancelled. (Source: Specsavers easycare contact lenses, verified May 2026.)

If the deceased was on an easycare subscription, the direct debit will continue to be collected from their bank account until you cancel the subscription. This needs to be done as soon as practicable after the death.

How to cancel

Phone: Call Specsavers customer service on 0808 172 0072 and explain that the subscriber has died. Alternatively, the local store that manages the account can cancel the subscription.

Notice period: A 14-day cancellation notice period applies, and the account must be up to date with payments at the point of cancellation. In practice, Specsavers applies common sense in bereavement situations – if you explain the circumstances, the team will advise on any flexibility.

Stopping the direct debit at the bank: It is also worth asking the deceased’s bank to cancel the easycare direct debit at the same time, so no further payments leave the estate account while the cancellation is being processed. The bank can do this immediately. See our guide on what happens to direct debits when someone dies for more on the process.

What happens to outstanding lens deliveries

Any lenses already dispatched and in the post at the point of cancellation will have been paid for. These form part of the estate and can be used by anyone the executor chooses. Lenses that have not yet been dispatched will not be sent once the subscription is cancelled.

There is no published refund policy specific to bereavement for the easycare subscription. If the deceased paid for lenses they never received, ask the customer service team about a refund to the estate.

Hearing aids and aftercare

Specsavers is a significant private hearing aid provider in the UK, selling its own-brand hearing aids and the major manufacturer brands (Phonak, Signia, Widex, and others) through its hearing care centres. Many stores offer NHS hearing aid fitting as an extension of NHS audiology services.

Is there an ongoing care plan?

Unlike some providers, Specsavers includes aftercare for the lifetime of the hearing aids in the purchase price. This covers free appointments for fine-tuning and adjustments, free batteries for the first four years, and remote adjustments via the Specsavers app where applicable. There is no separate monthly care plan or maintenance contract that needs to be cancelled at death. (Source: Specsavers hearing aid aftercare, verified May 2026.)

However, circumstances vary. If the deceased paid for hearing aids through a finance arrangement, or had any separately arranged maintenance contract, check the paperwork carefully. Finance agreements are separate from the aftercare service and would need to be dealt with in the same way as any other regulated credit agreement.

What to do with the hearing aids

Hearing aids purchased outright from Specsavers are an asset of the estate. Contact the local Specsavers hearing care centre to notify them of the death. They can advise on:

• Whether there is any ongoing booking or appointment to cancel
• Whether unused accessories (replacement batteries, charging cases, or wireless accessories) can be returned
• Whether the hearing aids themselves can be donated – some charities, including the Starkey Hearing Foundation, accept refurbished hearing aids, though Specsavers itself does not offer a take-back scheme

The hearing care centre phone number is on the deceased’s appointment letters or on the store’s own Google or Specsavers listing. Alternatively, call the main customer service number to be connected to the relevant store.

NHS hearing aids

If the deceased received NHS hearing aids through Specsavers as part of an NHS audiology contract, those devices remain the property of the NHS. They should be returned to the store or the NHS audiology department that issued them. There is no charge for returning NHS devices, and no refund.

Outstanding orders – glasses and contact lenses

If the deceased had glasses on order at the time of death – at any stage from initial measurement to lens fitting – the estate may be entitled to a refund.

Contact the specific Specsavers store where the glasses were ordered. Take the death certificate and any order confirmation paperwork (or the receipt). The store will be able to confirm the status of the order and whether a refund is owed.

Specsavers’ general refund policy allows customers to raise concerns within a reasonable period of purchase. In practice, stores apply discretion in bereavement situations. If the glasses were bespoke and had already been manufactured, a partial refund rather than a full refund may be offered – though it is worth asking. (Source: Specsavers refunds and exchanges, verified May 2026.)

For contact lens orders placed online and not yet dispatched, contact customer service on 0808 172 0072. For orders via the local store, speak to the store directly.

Prescription records

Specsavers retains patient prescription records in line with College of Optometrists guidance, which recommends that optical patient records are kept for ten years after the patient’s last visit – including after the patient has died. (Source: Look After Your Eyes – accessing patient records, verified May 2026.)

You do not need to take any action on prescription records. They are clinical records, not estate assets, and Specsavers manages their retention automatically.

Can family members access the prescription? The optical prescription is personal health data and is subject to UK data protection law. A family member or executor can ask Specsavers to confirm what records are held and, in principle, request access as part of administering the estate. However, Specsavers can use clinical discretion about what information to release. If you need access for a specific reason – for example, to arrange replacement glasses using the existing prescription before it expires – it is worth asking the store directly. Prescriptions are typically valid for two years from the date of issue.

If the prescription was still within its two-year validity window at the time of death, it could in theory be used by the executor to collect any outstanding glasses order. Speak to the store.

Online account

Specsavers’ online account allows customers to manage contact lens deliveries, view order history, book eye test appointments, and check their prescription. If the deceased had a Specsavers online account, it should be closed as part of the estate administration.

To close the online account: Contact customer service on 0808 172 0072 or email customerservice@specsavers.co.uk. Explain that the account holder has died and ask for the account to be closed. You will need to provide the deceased’s name, date of birth, and the email address registered to the account if you have it.

If the deceased’s email address is accessible to you (as executor or next of kin), you may be able to use the Specsavers website’s “forgot password” function to access the account and cancel any outstanding easycare subscriptions directly. However, contacting customer service directly is the more straightforward route.

What happens to the account data? Specsavers retains personal data for as long as is reasonably necessary under healthcare and regulatory requirements. You do not need to request that clinical records be deleted – and indeed, Specsavers is unlikely to delete patient prescription records within the 10-year retention period even on request. For non-clinical data (name, address, email, marketing preferences), you can ask Specsavers to erase it under UK GDPR once the account has been closed. (Source: Specsavers privacy statement, verified May 2026.)

What documents you’ll need

You do not need an original death certificate for Specsavers notifications – a scan or clear photograph is accepted. If you need additional certified copies (for banks, HMRC, and other organisations), they cost £12.50 each from the General Register Office: gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate.

There is no probate or executor threshold that applies to Specsavers account closure. You do not need a grant of probate to cancel a contact lens subscription or close an online account. However, if a refund of any meaningful amount is due to the estate, the store may ask for confirmation of who is authorised to receive it.

Tips and things to watch out for

Contact the local store for clinical matters. Specsavers’ central customer service team handles account-level queries but cannot access local patient records. For anything involving prescriptions, outstanding glasses, or hearing aids, the local store is the right contact.

Cancel the easycare direct debit promptly. The monthly easycare payment will keep being collected until you cancel the subscription. Speak to both Specsavers and the deceased’s bank. Cancelling at the bank stops the direct debit immediately; cancelling with Specsavers closes the subscription properly.

Specsavers is a joint-venture model, not a pure franchise. Each store is co-owned by the clinicians running it, operating under the Specsavers brand with central support. This means store-level matters – glasses orders, prescriptions, hearing aids – are best handled by the specific store, not necessarily by the central team. If the central team cannot resolve something, ask them to connect you with the local store.

Check for easycare subscriptions in bank statements. Specsavers easycare direct debit payments typically appear on bank statements as “SPECSAVERS” or similar. Look at the deceased’s recent statements to identify whether an easycare subscription was active. If you find a recurring payment you cannot identify, call the customer service number to check whether it relates to a Specsavers subscription.

Hearing aids are included, not rented. Specsavers hearing aids purchased privately are owned by the customer outright and do not come with a separate monthly care contract. There is no plan to cancel – only the aftercare service, which ends naturally with the account. NHS hearing aids are different and belong to the NHS.

Outstanding contact lenses arriving by post. If the deceased was on an easycare subscription and a delivery was in transit at the time of death, it will arrive. The lenses belong to the estate. You do not need to return them.

Summary

Specsavers’ main customer service number is 0808 172 0072 (Monday to Friday 8am–8pm, Saturday 9am–5pm), or you can email customerservice@specsavers.co.uk.

For account closure and easycare subscription cancellation, the central team is the right first call. For prescription records, outstanding glasses orders, and hearing aid matters, contact the local Specsavers store the person attended.

If the deceased had a monthly easycare contact lens subscription, cancel it promptly – the direct debit continues until you do. Ask the deceased’s bank to cancel the direct debit at the same time. There are no other ongoing charges to worry about unless the deceased had a finance agreement for hearing aids.

For a full checklist of organisations to notify after a death, see our complete what-to-do guide. If you are cancelling direct debits more broadly, our guide on what happens to direct debits when someone dies explains how to stop payments across all accounts. For guidance on the bank account itself, see our guide on what happens to a bank account when someone dies.

If the deceased also had other healthcare or subscription accounts to close, our guides on how to notify BUPA when someone dies, how to notify Boots when someone dies, and how to notify the DVLA when someone dies cover those separate processes.