Tesco Bank bereavement: call 0345 071 6153, Mon–Fri 8am–6pm

Tesco Bank offers credit cards, savings accounts, personal loans, ISAs, and Clubcard Pay+ to millions of UK customers. Since November 2024, Tesco Bank’s banking operations have been owned by Barclays Bank UK PLC – but the branding, phone lines, and bereavement process remain under the Tesco Bank name. If you are managing a loved one’s finances after their death and they held a Tesco Bank product, this guide explains exactly what to do, including how the IHT423 Direct Payment Scheme works and what the probate threshold means for your estate.

Quick reference:

• Phone: 0345 071 6153 (Monday–Friday, 8am–6pm)
• Post: Freepost Tesco Bank Estates Team, PO Box 27009, Glasgow G2 9EZ
• Online: tescobank.com/help/bereavement-support
• Probate required if: sole accounts total more than £50,000
• Death Notification Service: Tesco Bank is a member – use deathnotificationservice.co.uk
• IHT423: Tesco Bank participates in HMRC’s Direct Payment Scheme
• Important: If the deceased also held a Barclays account, contact Barclays separately

How to notify Tesco Bank

Call the Tesco Bank Estates Team on 0345 071 6153, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. This is a standard-rate number (the same rate as calling an 01 or 02 number).

You do not need to have all your documents ready before you call. The Estates Team can take the basic details – the deceased’s name, address, date of birth, and date of death – and tell you what they need from your specific situation. You can send supporting documents by post or bring them to a branch at a later stage.

There are three ways to reach the Estates Team:

If you are deaf or have a speech impairment, Tesco Bank supports Relay UK (previously known as Next Generation Text). BSL users can access an interpreter through Connect2 Interpreters Live – contact the Estates Team to arrange this before your call.

Only the next of kin, an executor named in the will, or a solicitor acting on their behalf can formally instruct Tesco Bank to close accounts. If you are a close friend or more distant relative, you may need to establish your legal authority first. The Estates Team can advise you on this when you call.

Source: Tesco Bank bereavement support page, last verified June 2026.

Death Notification Service

Tesco Bank is a member of the Death Notification Service (DNS), a free service operated by UK Finance and Equiniti that allows you to notify multiple financial institutions simultaneously through a single online form at deathnotificationservice.co.uk.

A DNS submission triggers Tesco Bank’s bereavement process and freezes the affected accounts. However, it does not replace the need to submit supporting documents – death certificate, your ID, and the authority to close form – directly to Tesco Bank. Think of the DNS as the notification; the document submission is a separate step.

The DNS currently has more than 40 member organisations, including most major UK banks. If the deceased held accounts with several institutions, using the DNS first can save considerable time.

Tell Us Once is not relevant here. The government’s Tell Us Once service notifies HMRC, the DVLA, DWP, and similar public bodies. It does not cover private financial institutions like Tesco Bank. For a full explanation of what Tell Us Once covers – and what it does not – see our guide to Tell Us Once.

What documents you’ll need

Tesco Bank asks for two categories of document: proof of the death, and authority to act. Exactly what they need depends on the account types held and the total balance in sole accounts.

Proof of death

One of the following:

• Original death certificate from the register office
• Certified copy of the death certificate
• Coroner’s interim certificate (issued before the full certificate, where an inquest is required)

Certified copies of the death certificate cost £11 each in England and Wales (source: gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate). If you are notifying multiple organisations at the same time, it is worth ordering several certified copies upfront – it saves a great deal of back-and-forth.

Proof of your identity and authority

• Your own photo ID (passport or driving licence)
• Authority to close instruction, signed by all executors or next of kin – Tesco Bank provides this form once you make contact
• Copy of the will, if one exists

If probate is required

• Grant of probate (if there is a will in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland) – or
• Letters of administration (if there is no will in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland) – or
• Certificate of confirmation (in Scotland – see the Scotland section below)

This is only needed if the total balance across sole Tesco Bank accounts exceeds £50,000. For accounts below that threshold, a statutory declaration and certified death certificate are usually sufficient.

What happens to the accounts

What happens to a Tesco Bank account after a death depends on the type of product and whether it was held in the deceased’s sole name or jointly with someone else.

Credit cards

The credit card account is frozen and the card is blocked on notification. Any interest or fees charged after the date of death are refunded. If there was an additional cardholder on the account – someone who used a supplementary card – their card is also cancelled. They do not inherit the debt and are not personally liable for the outstanding balance; the debt becomes a liability of the estate.

For a full explanation of how credit card debt is handled after a death in the UK, see our guide to what happens to credit card debt when someone dies.

Savings accounts

The savings account is frozen on notification. No further transactions can be made, but the account continues to earn interest until it is formally closed. Once the estate is settled and all required documents are received, the balance (including any accrued interest) is released to the executor or administrator.

For joint savings accounts, the surviving account holder retains full access. The account is not frozen – it simply continues in the surviving holder’s name.

Personal loans

The loan account is frozen and a settlement figure is calculated based on the outstanding balance as at the date of death. Interest stops accruing from the date of death (any interest applied after that date is refunded). The outstanding balance becomes a debt of the estate.

For joint loans, the loan account remains open and regular repayments continue to be the responsibility of the surviving account holder. If you are the surviving party on a joint loan and you are struggling to keep up repayments, contact the Tesco Bank team as soon as possible – they have a duty under FCA Consumer Duty guidance to treat customers fairly, including those in difficult personal circumstances.

ISAs

The ISA is frozen and no further transactions are permitted. Interest continues to accrue until the account is formally closed.

If the deceased was married or in a civil partnership, the surviving spouse or civil partner may be eligible for an Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) – a one-off allowance equal to the value of the deceased’s ISA at the date of death, allowing the survivor to shelter an extra amount from tax. Tesco Bank participates in the APS scheme. The allowance must be claimed within three years of the date of death, or within 180 days of the estate being administered – whichever is later. Ask the Estates Team about the APS when you make your first call.

For more on ISA inheritance rules, see our guide to what happens to an ISA when someone dies.

Junior ISAs

Where a Junior ISA was held in the name of a child who has died, the account is frozen and funds are paid out to the executor or beneficiaries after the required documentation is received.

Summary by product

Probate and the £50,000 threshold

Probate is the legal process that gives an executor formal authority to deal with an estate. Tesco Bank requires evidence of probate in certain circumstances.

If the total balance across sole Tesco Bank accounts exceeds £50,000, Tesco Bank will ask for one of the following before releasing funds:

• Grant of probate (where there is a will, in England and Wales)
• Letters of administration (where there is no will, in England and Wales)
• Certificate of confirmation (in Scotland – see below)
• Grant of probate from NICTS (Northern Ireland – see below)

If the total balance is £50,000 or less, Tesco Bank may release funds using a small estate process – typically a statutory declaration alongside the certified death certificate and your ID. The Estates Team will guide you through this when you call.

Joint account balances are not counted in this threshold. Only accounts held in the deceased’s sole name are included.

Source: Tesco Bank bereavement support page, last verified June 2026.

If you do need to apply for probate, the government’s own service at gov.uk/applying-for-probate provides a step-by-step process. For more detail on timelines, see our guide to how long probate takes. The average in England and Wales is around 16 weeks from application to grant – meaning the whole process from first notification to funds released can take four to six months in a probate case.

IHT423 and the Direct Payment Scheme

If the estate is subject to inheritance tax, there is a practical problem: HMRC requires IHT to be paid before they issue the grant of probate, but executors typically need the grant of probate before they can access the deceased’s funds to pay the tax.

Tesco Bank participates in HMRC’s Direct Payment Scheme, which breaks this deadlock. Under the scheme, Tesco Bank transfers the inheritance tax amount directly to HMRC from the deceased’s accounts – before the grant of probate is issued. The funds never pass through the executor’s hands.

The IHT423 form is used alongside form IHT400 (the full inheritance tax account). For Tesco Bank accounts, the process works as follows:

1. Contact HMRC Inheritance Tax on 0300 123 1072 at least three weeks before the IHT payment deadline. See our HMRC bereavement guide for the full HMRC notification process.
2. Complete form IHT422 to request a payment reference number from HMRC.
3. Wait for HMRC to issue a payment reference – this typically takes around two weeks.
4. Send form IHT423 to Tesco Bank, along with the payment reference, the death certificate, and the relevant account details. Tesco Bank does not require the grant of probate at this stage.
5. Tesco Bank transfers directly to HMRC – the funds move from the estate’s account to HMRC. The executor receives confirmation and can then apply for probate.

The IHT423 form is available at gov.uk/government/publications/inheritance-tax-direct-payment-scheme-bank-or-building-society-account-iht423.

Source: HMRC IHT423 guidance, last verified June 2026.

If the deceased lived in Scotland

The bereavement process with Tesco Bank is the same in Scotland – call 0345 071 6153 or write to the Freepost address. The key difference is the legal document required for estates above £50,000.

In Scotland, the equivalent of probate is called confirmation, granted by the local Sheriff Court. There is no grant of probate and no letters of administration in Scotland – you apply for a “certificate of confirmation” instead. Tesco Bank explicitly recognises this and accepts confirmation as equivalent to a grant of probate.

Key differences for Scotland:

• Small estates (under £36,000 net): an executor can apply for small estate confirmation using the C1 form – a simplified process. This is a lower threshold than the £50,000 threshold Tesco Bank applies, so some Scottish estates below £50,000 may still need confirmation to access funds
• Excepted estates (no IHT due): use the C5 form alongside the C1 to confirm the estate is excepted
• All other estates: apply to the Sheriff Court for full confirmation
• Death must be registered within eight days in Scotland (five days in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland)
• Tesco Bank’s own glossary states: “Grant of Probate/Confirmation (Scotland): An official document confirming the Will is valid and stating who the personal representative is”

The Bereavement Advice Centre has a detailed guide to confirmation in Scotland.

If the deceased lived in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, probate is issued by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) rather than His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) in England and Wales. The grant of probate issued by NICTS is accepted by Tesco Bank in the same way as an English or Welsh grant – there is no additional step.

The Northern Ireland probate process broadly mirrors the England and Wales process: you apply to the Probate Office in Belfast, provide the death certificate and original will (if one exists), and pay the probate fee. The small estate threshold in Northern Ireland follows the same principles as in England and Wales.

If you are dealing with a Northern Ireland estate and need guidance on the probate process, nidirect.gov.uk provides official guidance.

How long does it take?

For most estates, Tesco Bank cases without probate resolve within two to four weeks from the point where all required documents have been received and verified.

Joint accounts are updated more quickly – often within a few working days of notification, once the death certificate is received.

Cases requiring probate take significantly longer. The grant of probate itself takes an average of 16 weeks in England and Wales (source: gov.uk/applying-for-probate). Once Tesco Bank receives the grant, the account closure and fund release typically follows within two to four weeks.

The most common cause of delay is incomplete documentation. Providing complete paperwork at the outset – death certificate, your ID, and the authority to close form – removes the most common sources of delay.

Tesco Bank and Barclays: what the acquisition means for you

In November 2024, Barclays Bank UK PLC completed its acquisition of Tesco Bank’s retail banking business for approximately £700 million. From that date, Tesco Bank credit cards, savings accounts, personal loans, Clubcard Pay+, and other banking products became the legal responsibility of Barclays – though they continue to operate under the Tesco Bank brand.

The day-to-day bereavement process is unchanged. You still call 0345 071 6153 and deal with the Tesco Bank Estates Team. The brand, phone lines, and postal address remain the same.

The key practical issue is that Tesco Bank and Barclays operate separate bereavement teams. If the deceased held both a Tesco Bank product (credit card, savings, loan) and a Barclays account, you must contact both organisations separately. Tesco Bank cannot notify Barclays on your behalf.

One further consideration: if the deceased held savings with both Tesco Bank and Barclays, the two pots now share a single Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection limit of £85,000. If the combined savings across both institutions exceed that figure, the amount above £85,000 is not protected.

Source: Barclays – completion of Tesco Bank acquisition, November 2024.

Tips and things to watch out for

Direct debits on sole accounts will stop. When Tesco Bank freezes a sole account, any direct debits attached to it are cancelled. If any of those direct debits were covering shared household bills, those payments will stop. Check before you call and have a plan for keeping essential services running.

Joint account debt transfers to the survivor. If the deceased held a joint personal loan, the surviving account holder is responsible for the full outstanding balance – not half of it. This can come as a shock if the loan balance is significant. Contact the Tesco Bank team as early as possible if you are in this situation.

ISA APS has a deadline. The Additional Permitted Subscription allowance for surviving spouses and civil partners is not open-ended. The deadline is three years from the date of death, or 180 days from the date of estate administration – whichever is later. Confirm the deadline with the Estates Team on your first call so you do not inadvertently miss it.

Credit card additional cardholders should stop using their card immediately. On notification of the death, all cards on the account are blocked – including supplementary cards held by other family members. If a family member was relying on an additional card for day-to-day spending, they will need to apply for a new card in their own name.

Tesco Bank cannot notify HMRC for you. Even with the IHT423 Direct Payment Scheme, you still need to engage HMRC directly to establish the IHT liability and obtain a payment reference. The IHT423 covers the payment mechanism only – it does not replace the IHT400 process. See our HMRC bereavement guide for what HMRC requires.

If you are also closing a Tesco Clubcard, that is a separate process handled by a different team (Tesco Clubcard, not Tesco Bank). For details on closing a Clubcard, transferring points, and the Tesco Mobile process, see our combined guide to notifying Tesco when someone dies.

Summary

To notify Tesco Bank after a bereavement, call 0345 071 6153 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm) or write to Freepost Tesco Bank Estates Team, PO Box 27009, Glasgow G2 9EZ. You can also use the Death Notification Service at deathnotificationservice.co.uk to initiate the process across multiple banks at once.

Probate is required if sole accounts total more than £50,000. For accounts below that threshold, Tesco Bank may release funds via a small estate process. Joint accounts pass to the surviving holder automatically.

If the estate is subject to inheritance tax, Tesco Bank participates in the IHT423 Direct Payment Scheme – allowing the bank to pay HMRC directly before probate is granted. In Scotland, a certificate of confirmation serves in place of a grant of probate. In Northern Ireland, a NICTS grant of probate is accepted.

If the deceased also held a Barclays account, contact Barclays separately – the two teams do not communicate automatically.

For a full checklist of organisations to notify after a death, see our what to do when someone dies section. Related guides you may find useful:

• How to notify Barclays when someone dies – Tesco Bank is now part of Barclays; this guide covers the Barclays bereavement process, documents, and probate threshold
• How to notify HMRC when someone dies – what HMRC needs, inheritance tax timelines, and how the IHT400 process works
• What happens to an ISA when someone dies – ISA APS rules, the three-year deadline, and how different ISA types are treated
• What happens to credit card debt when someone dies – credit card debt does not pass to family members; the estate is responsible
• How long does probate take? – realistic timelines and what causes delays
• Tell Us Once – what the government’s Tell Us Once service covers and what it does not

Sources: Tesco Bank bereavement support page | Tesco Bank bereavement glossary | Barclays – completion of Tesco Bank acquisition | HMRC IHT423 Direct Payment Scheme | gov.uk – order a death certificate | gov.uk – applying for probate | deathnotificationservice.co.uk | Bereavement Advice Centre – confirmation in Scotland | nidirect.gov.uk – applying for probate. Last verified: June 2026.