Bereavement support

If you'd prefer to speak to us in person, you can come into your nearest branch.

Find a branch

For more general queries or support, call our team on:

0345 850 0088

Or, from outside the UK, call:

+44 (0)114 252 0249

When someone dies, their death must be registered accordingly.

In the Channel Islands and Isle of Man this needs to be done within 5 days.

Details of the process and documents required to register a death can be found on each island’s government website. Once the death has been registered, a death certificate will be issued.

Jersey gov.je

Guernsey gov.gg

Isle of Man gov.im

If the person who has died has left a valid Will stating what their wishes are for their estate, then this is to be executed.  

In Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, the persons who will inherit the estate are known as the 'Heirs at Law'. Usually this will be the deceased’s next of kin, such as a husband, wife, civil partner or their child/children. The law in each jurisdiction will also prescribe which proportion of the deceased’s estate goes to whom under intestacy laws.

If someone dies without making a will there are certain rules which dictate how an estate is to be distributed. This may also apply if you cannot locate a signed Will. Please visit the government online guidance pages:

Jersey gov.je

Guernsey gov.gg

Isle of Man gov.im

Once the death has been registered, you can arrange a funeral. You may already know what sort of funeral the deceased wanted, or there may be instructions in the will or other papers.

One important decision is how much to spend. Funerals can be expensive, and may need to be paid for immediately unless a funeral plan exists.

You can find out about help you could get with paying for a funeral in our bereavement support guide (PDF, 6.6 MB).

Once we’ve received formal confirmation of the death and you've provided us with a copy of the funeral bill, we can arrange payment from the deceased's account. You can upload a copy of the funeral bill through our bereavement portal or by contacting our bereavement support team.

If there aren’t enough funds in the account of the deceased to cover the funeral cost, we can make a partial payment using what is available. In some cases, the government can provide help towards the cost.

The quickest and easiest way to notify us of a bereavement is using our online bereavement portal.

You can use the portal to submit a new notification, and to upload any documents we'll need to close the accounts.

Once you’ve completed this, our dedicated team will review your case before they get in touch to let you know about any next steps.

You can call our team on 0800 085 1992 (or +44 (0)114 252 0249 if you’re calling from outside the UK) to notify us.

If you have any queries relating to a bereavement please call 0345 850 0088.

The team is available from 08:30 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and 09:00 to 14:00 on Saturday (excluding public holidays).

Once we’re notified of a death, our team will get in touch to explain the next steps and timescales.

We’ll freeze any sole accounts to stop withdrawals, but we’ll still allow money to be paid in. Any debit cards, telephone banking and online banking will also be cancelled automatically.

If you're an executor and choose to deal with the estate yourself, you may find yourself receiving and paying out large sums of money. One way to keep track of these transactions more easily is to open a dedicated Executor Account with HSBC.

You can find out more about what happens to different accounts and products held by the deceased and the documents we may need to see in our bereavement support guide (PDF, 6.6 MB). It also explains what probate is and has more about our Executor Accounts.

We’ll stop any marketing messages from being sent. However, you may still receive some because these are prepared several weeks in advance. We try to prevent this happening, but if you do receive anything, please accept our sincere apologies.

We cannot share data with HSBC in other countries/jurisdictions. If the deceased had accounts with HSBC elsewhere, you will need to contact HSBC in those countries directly.

As well as telling friends and family of the death, there will be a number of organisations you’ll need to inform, such as other banks, building societies and utility companies.

Citizen Advice Bureau:

Jersey - https://www.citizenadvice.je/

Guernsey - https://citizensadvice.org.gg/

Isle of Man - https://www.citizensadvice.im/

Mind

Telephone: 03300 123 3393

www.mindjersey.org

Age concern

Jersey: ageconcern.je

Guernsey: ageconcernguernsey.org.gg

Isle of Man: ageconcern.im  

Samaritans: samaritans.org

Hospices

Jersey Hospice: jerseyhospicecare.com

Guernsey Hospice : lesbourgshospice.org.gg

Isle of Man Hospice: hospice.org.im

The personal representative is the individual who is responsible for dealing with the deceased customer’s estate. They may also be known as the executor or administrator of the estate.

To protect you and the deceased customer’s estate from fraud and financial crime, we’ll need to verify your identity and address.

Types of ID and proof of address we'll accept

If the personal representative(s) is not a Channel Islands or UK resident, the proof of identity and address documents must be certified by a lawyer, notary public, embassy or consulate official, bank official, tax adviser or accountant (must be a member of a registered body) from the country where the documents were issued.

These documents must be provided to us at a branch in any country, or by post at:

CIIOM Bereavement Support Team

HSBC House Esplanade St Helier Jersey JE1 1HS

Find your nearest branch

We may need to see the will to make sure we’re dealing with the correct personal representative(s) of the deceased customer.

We may close the deceased customer’s accounts without seeing the will; however, we reserve the right to ask to see the will if needed.