With increased attention on the credit and collections industry, it’s more important than ever to not only know the status of your consumers, but to have a plan on how to service accounts as they move into different statuses. One account status that should not be overlooked is that of the deceased consumer.

Knowing when your consumers become deceased AND having a plan in place for how your company will handle these accounts will go a long way towards ensuring this delicate situation is handled with extra care. The first step in dealing with deceased consumers is the identification that one of your account holders has passed away.

This whitepaper discusses the various databases available to identify deceased account holders and what to do once you have identified an account holder is deceased. Although most organizations have processes in place to handle the situation when a creditor is notified the customer is now deceased (reactive notification), it is important to first and foremost have a process set up for proactive identification of deceased consumers. Whether an online search, a batch scrub, or ongoing batch monitoring process, you will need a notification process in place in order to protect your organization.