Payments when a client dies

If the client who died was single and doesn't have any dependent children, we'll stop their payments as soon as we know they died.

We may be able to keep making their payments for up to 28 days if:

• their living situation means there are transition costs their family has to pay, causing hardship. For example, the client was sharing accommodation and the family has to pay household costs
• there are exceptional and justified costs associated with their death. For example, multiple deaths within one family.

A family member or the executor of the client's estate can ask us to do this.

How to ask us to keep making payments

Call us on 0800 559 009 (or 0800 552 002 if they're a senior client) and book an appointment to come in and see us. If you don't want to come by yourself, you can bring someone with you for support.

You need to bring:

• proof of who you are (unless you're already getting a payment from us)
• confirmation of death, eg a death certificate (you can order this online here), or newspaper death notice
• proof of the expenses that need to be paid.

At the appointment, we'll:

• ask you to fill in a Personal Declaration form
• talk with you about anything else you could get, eg help with funeral costs.

Payments made after 28 days

We might not find out the client has died until after 28 days. In this case we may have to recover any payments we've made after the 28 days from their estate (if they have one).

We'll keep paying the client for 28 days if the client who died was single and:

• had a dependent child in their care, or
• paid child support for a child, or
• was getting Orphan's Benefit or Unsupported Child's Benefit for a child in their care.

If the client was paying child support through a private arrangement, we might not know about their child. In this case, we may not keep paying the client for 28 days.

If you're now caring for the child, you can ask us to make their payments into your bank account instead.

Unfortunately if we've already made payments into the client's account, we can't transfer these to you. You'll need to talk about this with the client's bank.

How to change the bank account

Call us on 0800 559 009 (or 0800 552 002 if they're a senior client) and book an appointment to come in and see us.

You need to bring:

• proof of who you are (unless you're already getting a payment from us)
• confirmation of death, eg a death certificate (you can order this online here), or newspaper death notice
• proof that you're now caring for the child
• evidence of your bank account number (unless we're already making payments for you into that bank account).

At the appointment, we'll:

• ask you to fill in a Personal Declaration form
• talk with you about anything else you could get, eg an Orphan's Benefit or Unsupported Child's Benefit

Payments made after 28 days

We might not find out the client has died until after 28 days. In this case we may have to recover any payments we've made after the 28 days from their estate (if they have one).

If the client who died has a partner, we'll keep paying the client for 28 days. The only time we won't do this is if the partner gets a survivor's grant from ACC. However, the survivor's grant can take a while to be approved. If this happens, we can still make payments for 28 days but the partner will need to pay it back once ACC approve the grant.

If you're the partner of the client who's died, you can ask us to make their payments into your bank account instead.

Unfortunately, if we've already made payments into the client's account, we can't transfer these to you. You'll need to talk about this with the client's bank.

How to change the bank account

Call us on 0800 559 009 (or 0800 552 002 if they're a senior client) and book an appointment to come in and see us. If you don't want to come by yourself, you can bring someone with you for support.

You need to bring:

• proof of who you are (unless you're already getting a payment from us)
• confirmation of death, eg a death certificate (you can order this online here), or newspaper death notice
• evidence of your bank account number (unless we're already making payments for you into that bank account).

At the appointment, we'll:

• ask you to fill in a Personal Declaration form
• talk with you about anything else you could get, eg help with funeral costs.

If you're already getting a benefit or payment from us, we'll review this at the appointment to make sure you're getting the right amount.

Payments made after 28 days

We might not find out the client has died until after 28 days. In this case we may have to recover any payments we've made after the 28 days from their estate (if they have one).