How to notify Virgin Money when someone dies

Notifying Virgin Money of a death is one of the more pressing practical tasks in the days after losing someone. Virgin Money holds current accounts, savings, ISAs, mortgages, and credit cards for millions of UK customers. The sooner they are told, the sooner the account is protected and the estate process can begin. This guide covers everything you need: the right phone number, which documents to gather, what happens to each type of account, and when you are likely to need probate.

Quick reference:

• Phone: 0800 012 1590 (Monday–Friday, 8am–6pm; Saturday, 8am–3pm; Sunday, 10am–1pm)
• Online form: upload.virginmoney.com/bereavement
• Former Clydesdale/Yorkshire Bank accounts: 0800 011 3238 (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm)
• Probate threshold: £35,000 across all sole Virgin Money accounts
• All calls are free from UK landlines and personal mobile phones

Source: uk.virginmoney.com/service/bereavement

How to notify Virgin Money of a death

Virgin Money offers three ways to register a bereavement. You only need to use one.

By phone – Call 0800 012 1590. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm; Saturday, 8am to 3pm; and Sunday, 10am to 1pm. All calls are free from UK landlines and personal mobiles. If the account was originally with Clydesdale Bank or Yorkshire Bank (rebranded to Virgin Money in 2021), use 0800 011 3238 instead (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm). Phoning is the best option if you want to talk through the situation, ask questions, or have complex circumstances such as a joint account or a mortgage.

Online – Virgin Money’s online notification form is at upload.virginmoney.com/bereavement. The form accepts uploaded documents (up to 25MB per file, up to 10 documents in a single submission). This is a good choice if you have a copy of the death certificate ready and prefer not to make a phone call. The form is available at any time.

In branch – You can visit any Virgin Money store to give notification in person. Use the branch finder at uk.virginmoney.com/branch-finder to find your nearest one.

Death Notification Service

Virgin Money participates in the Death Notification Service (DNS), a free online service that lets you notify multiple banks and building societies in a single form. This is worth using if the deceased held accounts at more than one institution. It does not replace notifying Virgin Money directly, but it can reduce the total number of individual contacts needed.

Tell Us Once

Tell Us Once covers government departments only – HMRC, DVLA, the Passport Office, and others. It does not cover banks or financial institutions. You will need to contact Virgin Money separately.

What to have ready when you call or submit the form

For the initial notification, Virgin Money will need:

• Your name, address, and contact details
• The deceased’s full name, date of birth, address, and date of death
• At least one account number, sort code, or other account identifier

You do not need to have all your documents ready at this stage. Virgin Money will tell you what to send next once they have the initial details.

What documents you’ll need

After the initial notification, Virgin Money will ask you to submit supporting documents. The exact list depends on your situation, but the typical requirements are:

Grant of Probate is required if the total balance across all sole Virgin Money accounts is £35,000 or more. If the total is below this threshold, Virgin Money will provide an alternative form to complete instead. See the probate section below for more detail.

For identity documents, Virgin Money accepts a UK or non-UK passport, or a current photo driving licence or national identity card from the UK, EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland.

What happens to the accounts

Sole accounts

When Virgin Money is notified of a death, sole accounts are frozen immediately. This prevents any further withdrawals. Existing direct debits and standing orders will stop – see the direct debits note below.

Immediate release for funeral costs – Virgin Money can release funds to cover funeral costs, probate fees, and inheritance tax expenses before the estate is fully settled, provided you supply the relevant invoices. This is worth requesting early if funds are needed promptly.

Joint accounts

If the deceased held a joint account, the account is not frozen. It simply becomes a sole account in the surviving holder’s name, and all payments in and out continue as normal. You will still need to notify Virgin Money so that the records are updated and the deceased’s name removed from the account.

Direct debits and standing orders

Once a sole account is frozen, existing direct debits and standing orders will no longer be paid. As the personal representative, Virgin Money will provide you with a list of the active instructions. You will need to contact each organisation separately to arrange alternative payment methods or cancellation. The what happens to direct debits when someone dies guide covers this in more detail.

ISAs and mortgages

ISAs

If the deceased held a Virgin Money cash ISA, the funds form part of the estate and will be dealt with alongside other assets during administration.

There is an important additional benefit if the deceased was your spouse or civil partner: you are likely eligible to inherit their ISA allowance through an Additional Permitted Subscription (APS). This allows you to make an extra ISA subscription equal to the value of their ISA, over and above your own annual ISA allowance. You do not have to invest the money in the same ISA – you can use any provider. Contact Virgin Money to confirm eligibility and timings. For broader context, see the what happens to an ISA when someone dies guide.

Mortgages

A Virgin Money mortgage does not disappear on death. If the deceased had a life insurance policy linked to the mortgage, the policy may pay off the outstanding balance – the personal representative will need to contact the insurer to make a claim. For more on this, see the what happens to a mortgage when someone dies guide.

If there is no life insurance in place, mortgage payments still need to be made while the estate is being administered. Contact Virgin Money’s bereavement team to discuss the options: they can advise on a payment arrangement while probate is granted and the property situation is resolved.

Early repayment charges – For residential mortgages, Virgin Money will generally waive early repayment charges in bereavement cases. For buy-to-let mortgages, this is assessed case by case. Confirm the position with the team at the time.

For business accounts (sole traders), Virgin Money will freeze the account upon notification and the business banking team will advise on next steps.

Credit cards

Any Virgin Money credit cards held solely in the deceased’s name will be cancelled on notification. The outstanding balance becomes a debt of the estate and must be settled before the estate is distributed. It is not inherited by family members.

As personal representative, you are responsible for ensuring estate debts – including any credit card balance – are paid before the estate is distributed. If the estate cannot cover all debts, there is a legal order of priority for repayment. See the what happens to credit card debt when someone dies guide for a full explanation.

Probate and the £35,000 threshold

Whether you need a formal Grant of Probate to deal with Virgin Money depends primarily on the total balance held across the deceased’s sole Virgin Money accounts.

This threshold applies to Virgin Money accounts only. Other banks have their own thresholds, and whether you need probate overall depends on the total estate, not just one bank’s balance. See do I need probate? for the full picture.

If probate is required, you can apply via the gov.uk probate service. Virgin Money also participates in the HMRC Direct Payment Scheme (IHT423), which allows inheritance tax to be paid directly from the deceased’s Virgin Money accounts before probate is granted – useful if the estate is above the inheritance tax threshold.

How long it takes

For straightforward cases, Virgin Money aims to close accounts and release funds within 5–10 working days of receiving all required documents. During busy periods this can take a little longer.

More complex situations – a large estate requiring probate, a mortgage to resolve, or disputed assets – will take longer. Probate itself typically takes several months from application to grant. The full estate administration process, from death to final distribution, commonly takes 9–12 months or more.

Practical tip: Submit documents as a complete pack rather than in stages. Missing items are the most common cause of delay. Make certified copies of the death certificate before sending anything – you will need them for multiple organisations.

Things to watch out for

Two different phone numbers exist. If the account was originally a Clydesdale or Yorkshire Bank account, the correct number is 0800 011 3238, not 0800 012 1590. Calling the wrong line can add delays.

The £35,000 threshold covers sole accounts only. Joint accounts pass automatically to the surviving holder and are excluded from this calculation. If the deceased had a mix of joint and sole accounts, only the sole account balances count towards the threshold.

Online form requires documents upfront. Unlike some banks, Virgin Money’s online form is primarily a document submission tool. If you are still waiting for the death certificate, phone or in-branch notification may be more practical for the initial contact.

Funeral release requests need invoices. If you want Virgin Money to release funds to cover funeral costs before the estate is settled, you need to provide the invoice from the funeral director. Have this ready when you contact them.

Credit card balance is a debt of the estate, not the family. Family members are not personally liable for the deceased’s credit card debt unless they were a named cardholder on the same account.

Summary

For a broader overview of which organisations need to be told after a death, see the what to do when someone dies guide. For guidance on the probate process, visit the probate section.