Grieving partners are being charged hundreds of dollars to get household accounts transferred from their loved ones' names into their own, with some companies even imposing both disconnection and re-connection fees.

Key points: Council on the Ageing received "hundreds of complaints" about dealing with companies after a death

Council on the Ageing received "hundreds of complaints" about dealing with companies after a death Stress prolonging grief when people are at their most vulnerable, COTA says

Stress prolonging grief when people are at their most vulnerable, COTA says COTA wants Australia to follow lead of UK, which set up "Tell Us Once" service

The Council on the Ageing (COTA) said it had received hundreds of complaints about the hardships experienced by widows and widowers dealing with companies such as banks and utility providers.

The lobby group said some gas and electricity companies were charging disconnection fees, and then re-connection fees, to change names of account holders.

People who had lost loved ones were also being hit with hefty fees to change car registrations, the group said.

"We average that it's about $2,000 to change everything over in a lot of cases," spokeswoman Anita Smith said.

"It comes at a time when people have had to pay for a funeral, and also people have often had costs leading up to a death such as palliative care."

Ms Smith said the stress was prolonging grief when people were at their most vulnerable.

There were also complaints about the insensitivity of companies requiring a full death certificate that contains private information.

'We've been pretty horrified'

Retired financial counsellor Anne MacBean, whose husband died three years ago, said she was shocked and frustrated by the lack of consistency in what companies required.

"Why does a multinational need a death certificate to know how many children he had, what he died of?" she said.

"I think so many people just say it's too hard and they pass it over to the legal fraternity who then make a lot of money.

"Things need to change. It has to be simpler for everyone."

Ms Smith said companies were not even providing basic information about how people could change accounts after a death.

"The classic website that has no information or no way of notifying is [Australian Government website] MyGov," she said.

Anne MacBean was asked to provide a cause of death before she could take on one of her husband's bills. ( ABC News: Melissa Brown )

"I spoke to the administrators who advised, 'Oh whoops, we hadn't thought about that'."

COTA is working to lobby companies and the State Government to improve the system.

"We've been pretty horrified by the experiences we've heard," COTA's Victorian CEO Ronda Held said.

"We've had great response from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages who's really keen to try and streamline their process, and also the Energy and Water Ombudsman of Victoria who's now working with the energy companies."

COTA is also hoping Australia will follow the lead of the United Kingdom, which has set up the "Tell Us Once" service.

The service allows grieving partners to notify multiple government agencies all at once, through one online form or phone call.

Companies, agencies defend their practices

The Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria has been working with utility companies to address problems customers have been facing after the death of a partner.

A spokesman said there had been improvements, and highlighted Melbourne's Yarra Valley Water as a leader in the field.

Yarra Valley Water has never charged fees to change account details and says it does not require a full death certificate.

Managing Director Pat McCafferty said the company had set up a program to support customers after a death, and the COTA findings had prompted further internal review.

"After extensive collaboration, we have made our process easier by allowing verbal confirmation and the ability to complete aspects online," he said.

Toll road operator CityLink said there were no costs associated with closing the account of a person who had died, and a partner did not have to provide any other information if they were listed as a contact on the account.

When partners were not listed, the account could still be closed on the spot if relevant contact details about the deceased person could be provided, CityLink said.

Telstra also said it did not charge fees or require death certificates.

A spokesman said the company had established a dedicated support team to make cancelling or transferring services as simple as possible.

Origin Energy said it also charged no fees to change an account name.

"Customers do not need to be thinking about fees, documentation or if their supply will stay connected," a spokeswoman said.

"We do everything we can to make these transactions quick and seamless so that customers can focus on what's important at a difficult time."