By Phil Hickson – SVP, Global Partnerships at The Estate Registry
Studies from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) indicate the average time to issue a grant of probate last year was between 12 to 16 weeks – more than double (in some cases) the expected six- to 10-week timeframe. The entire process end-to-end can last a year or more, a year that can place huge pressure on the individuals dealing with an estate, especially if they are a family member.
It is fashionable currently to describe various parts of the UK and its functioning parts as being ‘broken’ and in need of ‘fixing’. It would be going a step too far, perhaps, to describe the probate system as ‘broken’, but it could certainly do with being improved. And one of the first areas of focus should be on agreeing the quickest and easiest way of notifying creditors of a death.
In the public sector there is a tried and tested process in place – ‘Tell Us Once’. Probate solicitors will be very familiar with the tool and its benefits in being a single route to notify multiple government departments and public sector bodies of a death, negating the need for multiple calls. It is not perfect, and there is certainly scope for improvement, but it’s a valuable tool worthy of wider recognition and investment.
It seems remarkable, given the near universal praise that ‘Tell Us Once’ achieves, that there isn’t a similar platform to notify all creditors in all areas, and not just those that are government/public sector related. There are individual platforms – NotifyNOW and Settld being among the better known and most well established – but no common platform or consensus on what ‘good’ should look like.
Banks, building societies, subscription providers, mobile phone companies etc deal with notifications, and indeed the whole process of managing deceased customers, to varying degrees of competence. Some, with dedicated bereavement teams, do better than others but are thoroughly inconsistent across businesses and sometimes even departments within the same organisation. The customer experience is at best variable, and on occasions, downright distressing for those who are often at their most vulnerable.
Perhaps the first step in improving the probate process, therefore, is for digital death notification to be mandatory across any/all consumer-facing private sector organisations. Certainly, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) could look at extending Consumer Duty such that bereavement is specifically called out. At present, firms are required to deliver ‘good outcomes’ for all customers, including those with characteristics of vulnerability. It would not seem unreasonable, therefore, to equate a ‘good outcome’ with a good death notification service.
Back in 2018, the FCA fined one of the banks almost £40m for failing to take responsible care to organise and control its bereavement and probate process. According to the FCA press release at the time, the bank ‘failed to treat its customers and those who represented them on their death fairly’. It should be noted that the bank was commended for fixing the issues ‘properly and promptly’. The point of highlighting the story is that when it comes to the probate process, we know that the FCA is not ignorant of the issue; far from it. But what it could do, beyond calling out poor practice, is take the next step, and champion best practice.
Three years ago, the issue was debated in Parliament following a campaign led by Settld and Cruse Bereavement Care. There was cross party support for a mandatory bereavement standard and in a poll conducted by YouGov more than 80% of the British public agreed. Sadly, the government did not take the issue any further.
While positive noises are still being made, now is the time to resolve the issue once and for all. Surely now the big banks, utilities, mobile phone providers and others could come together and define a common standard, with common reporting, and a common process. The digital technology is already there; they just need to embrace it.
This article was submitted to be published by The Estate Registry as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.
