Archives: FAQ - Savings

We can withdraw money from the account to pay for funeral expenses and Inheritance Tax. We will need an invoice from the funeral directors to pay for the funeral costs. The payment will be made directly to them.
If you need to pay an Inheritance Tax bill, we will need a completed HMRC form IHT423.

Once we have received all the required documents, it usually takes 14 days to get all the paperwork completed to close the account. We would aim to release the payment for the funds to a UK bank account within 14 days.

A statutory declaration must be signed in front of a solicitor and confirms that you are entitled to the funds. It usually costs in the region of £10 – £20. Any solicitor can complete this for you.

If the combined savings balances held with Ecology are above £15,000, we will also need either:

• The original grant of probate, or solicitor certified copy;

or

• The original letters of administration, or a solicitor certified copy

If the combined balances are below £15,000, then you need to follow the standard process for closing an account. We will provide you with a statutory declaration to sign.

 

Joint Accounts

If the account is in joint names with you, you can still use the account but need to send us a copy of the original or certified death certificate.

Once we have the death certificate we will update our records and remove the deceased’s name from the account.

Once the account is in your name only, you can close it if you want to.

 

We understand that there is a lot to do and you may not feel like tackling everything straight away, but the sooner you let us know the better. We will then freeze the account, meaning it will still earn interest but payments in or withdrawals out cannot be made. We will then wait for you to get the formal documentation to us once you are ready.

To register the death of the account holder we will need to receive:

• The original death certificate or original coroner’s interim certificate
• Full contact details for the informant / executor
• Two pieces of identification for the informant / executor from the Savings ID Requirements document.

If you prefer, you can supply solicitor certified copies of any of the above documents.

If the personal representative of the deceased’s estate doesn’t want to send their identification documents to us, or they do not have two forms of identification, they will need to give us permission to run an electronic identity search. They can give us permission using this form. Fill it out and send it back to us at either [email protected] or [email protected].

You can either call or email us with the details of the personal representative, executor, administrator or solicitor who is dealing with the death. We will need to know their name, address, and contact details and in what capacity they are dealing with the deceased’s estate. If they are a solicitor, we will need to know the company they work for, their job title, address and contact details.

If you call either our savings or mortgage member services teams, they will help you. The contact details are:

Phone: 01535 650 770

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]