Register a death - Tell Us Once

A death must be registered in the district where it took place.

You need to make an appointment to attend the register office to register a death.

How to register a death

To register a death in the borough of Rochdale:

Who can register a death depends on the circumstances of the death. See who can register a death on GOV.UK
You'll only be able to register the death once the medical examiner or coroner has emailed us the relevant documentation. Your doctor or the coroner will advise you accordingly.
You must register a death within 5 days of the medical examiner or coroner emailing us the relevant documentation. Phone us to make an appointment once you know the documentation has been issued.
We'll confirm your appointment time by email and let you know what information you'll require for your appointment.
Once the death is registered, you can then purchase death certificates.
We will email the required 'green form' to your Funeral Director.

Phone us on 01706 924784 to make an appointment to register a death

Costs for registering a death

Costs for registering a death include:

It's free to register a death.
£12.50 to purchase a standard death certificate at the time of registration. The central government sets the price for certificates.
£83 to apply for a correction if you find a mistake on the death certificate after it's signed. Or £99 if the correction needs to be considered by the Registrar General.

What information you need to register a death

You'll need to tell us or provide us with the following:

Their National Insurance number
Their date of birth
Details of any benefits or services they were receiving
Their death certificate
Their driving licence or driving licence number
Their passport or passport number
Their Blue Badge

Depending on the circumstances, we may also need to know information about:

Their next of kin - including their national insurance number
Any surviving husband, wife or civil partner
Anybody who is getting child benefit on their behalf
The person dealing with the estate

You must obtain the agreement of the next of kin or person dealing with the estate if you're going to provide information about them.

Report a death to government organisations - Tell Us Once

Tell Us Once is a service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go.

We can let many different government and council services know about the death.

Government services - we can tell:

Council services - we can tell:

Blue Badge service
Adult Social Care
Children's services
Payment collectors
Licensing service
Electoral service
Council Tax team
Business rates team
Housing team

Social housing providers - if the deceased was a tenant of a social housing provider, unfortunately, we cannot notify them of the death through the Tell Us Once Service. You will have to notify your social landlord yourself. Contact Rochdale Housing Solutions.

Using the Tell Us Once service

When you register a death, the registrar will explain to you how the Tell Us Once service works. We'll then send you:

A letter with a reference number
Instructions on how to use the service

You should try to set this up within a week of receiving the instructions.

Use the Tell Us Once service online on GOV.UK

More about the Tell Us Once service

The Department for Work and Pensions has created a video explaining the Tell Us Once service.

Apply for a copy death certificate

You can pay for another copy or a replacement copy of a death certificate at any time after registering a death. Apply for a copy death certificate.

Contact Register Office

Email: register.office@rochdale.gov.uk

Telephone: Click to call 01706 924784

Fax: 0844 963 231

Address: Rochdale Register Office
Number One Riverside
Smith Street
Rochdale OL16 1XU

Opening hours:
Monday–Friday: 9am–4.15pm (on the last Thursday of each month, 10.30am-4.15pm).

Saturday and Sunday: ceremonies only.

You must make an appointment to register births and deaths and give notice of marriage.