27th June, 2025
By Rob Wallace

How Businesses Can Use Death Checks to Update Customer Records

Death checks have become a critical data service for many Australian organisations. In just January and February, over 27,500 deaths were registered with the ABS—each one representing a significant change that should be reflected in customer databases to maintain accurate and up-to-date records..

A death check is the process of verifying customer profiles against death registries and subsequently removing these profiles. Maintaining accurate customer data is critical for companies that want to work efficiently and build customer trust, particularly in industries such as financial services and insurance.

Let’s examine the importance of death checks for businesses and explore some of their key use cases.

The Importance of Accurate Customer Records

Accurate customer records are the cornerstone of nearly every business function. Here are some of the key reasons why:

Avoiding reputational damage

Communications sent to deceased individuals can cause unwanted negative publicity and customer backlash.

Reducing fraud risk

Outdated records of deceased persons provide opportunities for identity misuse or fraud (e.g., unauthorised access to benefits, financial accounts, insurance claims).

Ensuring regulatory compliance

Many data-protection laws, such as the Privacy Act 1988, mandate that companies follow strict data accuracy in Australia.

Minimising wasted operational costs

Returned mailings, undelivered statements, and redundant digital communications collectively cost businesses in Australia around $17 million. This is a cost that should be reduced.

So, what does a death check involve?

What Are Death Checks?

A death check is the process of verifying customer records against authoritative death data sources, such as the Australian National Death Index. During this process, businesses cross-check customer names and other key identifiers—such as date of birth—against official death registries. Any confirmed matches are then used to update the customer database accordingly.

Verified organisations like IDsure help companies streamline the death check process. As the official broker for the Australian Death Check and a DVS gateway service provider, IDsure reliably pulls national death data directly from the Australian government databases.

Key Use Cases for Businesses

Death checks have been essential to various industries around Australia, whether in finance, healthcare or insurance companies.

Financial Institutions

Death checks help financial institutions proactively flag or close accounts belonging to deceased individuals, preventing unauthorised access and fraudulent transactions. Early death identification also helps them communicate promptly with next of kin or estate executors, which can streamline the settlement processes and improve customer service.

Insurance Companies

For insurers, death checks result in fast, accurate claims processing. It prevents ongoing premium charges to deceased policyholders and stops fraudulent claims or premium payments from being charged to individuals who have passed away.

Healthcare Provider

Accurate death data enables healthcare providers to promptly update patient records, helping prevent distressing situations—such as sending appointment reminders or medical correspondence to the families of deceased individuals. By implementing proper death check processes, providers can manage these sensitive situations with greater care and professionalism.

Integrating Death Checks into Your Data Management Process

Here are some best practices on how your company can seamlessly integrate a robust death check strategy:

Utilising APIs or batch verification tools

Partner with a provider like IDsure, which offers secure API integration with key business systems for faster, real-time data verification. Our system also features batch upload capabilities, allowing for the efficient clearing of any legacy data.

Automating checks at regular intervals

Schedule bi-weekly or monthly automated death checks and data cleansing processes for all company records. For critical accounts (i.e. financial, insurance), consider doing this more frequently.

Partnering with reliable data verification services

Choose an authorised provider with direct access to official registries. This helps your business get better, more accurate data that complies with privacy regulations.

Through these steps, businesses can easily update the data of deceased customers with minimal manual handling and cost.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

When implementing death check processes, businesses must carefully consider the legal and ethical responsibilities involved in handling personal data. Strong data protection measures are critical, and companies must ensure that data security becomes a priority and is adopted in their company culture.

Compliance with relevant privacy laws is also essential. In Australia, this means adhering to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and possibly international laws such as the GDPR. To solidify your business as an ethical and legal entity, it is also good practice to notify your customers that their data may be periodically verified.

Benefits of Proactive Death Check Implementation

Here are some of the benefits of an Australian death check service:

Improved customer trust and brand integrity

By avoiding insensitive errors, businesses maintain respectful relationships with their customers, which protects brand equity.

Streamlined operations and cost savings

Organisations using death check services can reduce returned mail and customer service escalations. This contributes to significant administration cost savings.

Reduced fraud losses

Early detection of deceased accounts prevents fraudulent transactions, unauthorised payouts, and benefits misdirection. Given that the operational and administrative costs for companies, such as those in private health insurance, have increased by 12.4%, this can be a sound strategy for reducing costs.

Better decision-making based on clean data

Marketing and customer data are more reliable when there are no deceased individuals in datasets, as it produces more accurate forecasting and resource allocation.

Regulatory and compliance confidence

Companies that demonstrate proactive data-check processes can streamline compliance audits and reduce the risk of fines related to data inaccuracy or mismanagement of sensitive accounts.

Conclusion

Accurate customer records are the key to operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, fraud prevention, and maintaining a strong brand reputation. Death checks should not be overlooked when considering data hygiene; instead, they should be adopted as a critical part of database maintenance.

IDsure provides seamless document verification services and is an authoritative source of death checks for businesses. As a DVS gateway service provider, we have a direct connection to the Australian Government’s Document Verification Service (DVS) to provide accurate and quick database updates.

To learn more about our Australian death checking services, contact our team today.