Residents who have lost a loved one are set to find it easier to register their death after the launch of a new bereavement service.

Called Just Once, the service which has been launched by Havering Council will see the process of reporting someone’s death simplified and shortened.

Councillor Michael Armstrong, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, said: “By allowing families to simply report a death to us and we will do the rest, we are providing a much better customer service to them when they need it most, giving time back for them to spend together.”

Under the current system after regustering the death of a loved one relatives would then have to spend a large amount of tme calling a number of services to let them know about the death.

This means that they could be up to 30 services which need notifying including the DVLA, Council tax, benefits and the passport service.

But Just Once allows relatives to register the death and at the same time go through some details about the deceased, then all over agencies would be notified automatically without the bereaved having to do anything more.

Cllr Armstrong said: “The loss of a loved one is a difficult time for everyone, and having to make a number of phone calls, or vists to relay the same information is upsetting and time consuming.”

Notifying all agencies about a death can be time consuming and expensive, at a difficult time for the family when funeral arrangements need to be made.

Just Once removes all the red tape from registering a death, allowing residents to visit Langtons House, Hornchurch or Queen’s Hospital, ROmford and do everything at the same time.

The new system is part of the Council’s transformation of its customer services to cut red tape and bureacracy and make it easier for residents to deal with the Council, while also providing a better service.

This has also included the implementation of a new website, as well as improvements to the council’s call centre.

To use the service, relatives should take along the following information about the deceased:

-National insurance number and date of birth

-Details of any benefits or services they received

-The medical certificate of cause of death from the doctor

-Passport or passport number if they had one.

For more information contact 01708 433481.