In today’s fast-paced and expensive world, many people are turning to side hustles in hopes of making extra income. However, there is one side hustle that many people dread, and that is Sadmin. You may ask, what is Sadmin? It’s short for “Social Media Administrator,” and it’s a job that requires managing and maintaining several social media accounts for businesses or individuals. The job may sound easy, but it comes with its own set of challenges and can quickly turn into a nightmare for those who aren’t prepared. In this article, we will explore the world of Sadmin, its pros and cons, and what you need to know before diving into this job.
Having a side hustle is often seen as a way to bring in some extra cash and fulfilment, but in the case of dealing with the admin that follows a bereavement, it’s a job that nobody wants. The writer, having lost their beloved father just before Christmas, has now been signed up for what is known as “Dadmin” – a repetitive world of work-redolent email chains, phone calls, legal expenses, old-fashioned pieces of paper and face-to-face appointments.
Dealing with the admin after a bereavement can be a strange, protracted time-suck that turns losing a person you love (real human experience) into yet more of the same crap that eats up our own lives while we are still living them. Across this sea of horror, however, a glorious beacon shines, illuminating how things might be improved, and from the unlikeliest place: the department for work and pensions, which developed the excellent “Tell Us Once” service.
Back in the mid-2000s, some bright spark realized that next of kin had to contact about 44 different arms of the British state after a death, piling on extra stress. It took several years to get everyone on board and pilot a unified scheme across local council areas, but Tell Us Once was rolled out in 2011 and now, for free and in one go, takes care of informing everyone from HMRC, the passport office, DVLA [the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency] and benefits office, to your local council and more – all with one code, provided when you register the death. It is, as it were, a lifesaver for the surviving family.
However, when it comes to dealing with the private sector, the picture is quite different. Customer service is great on some phone lines but on others, well, not so much. Canceling contracts is particularly tricky. Even in the case of the private pension provider of the writer’s late father, they were keen to tell them more than once that there had been an overpayment and they owed them money – this was his less than empathetic response to the news of Dad’s death. He showed zero interest in helping them find out how much, if anything, would continue to be paid to his Mum. That took weeks to establish.
According to Tremayne Carew Pole, co-founder of Life Ledger, which is trying to sign up as many private companies as possible to mimic the efficiency of Gov.uk’s Tell Us Once, it is a lack of training that is the issue. Life Ledger has 1,000 companies in so far (they pay rather than the user), and Carew Pole estimates the start-up is handling the admin of about 2% of UK deaths. EQ, the share ownership register, also has a scheme for some financial services companies. But Life Ledger aims to tie up all the loose ends in one go rather than, as with the EQ service, just tip off the companies to get back to the family or executor within 10 days – leaving the family to chase up.
Dealing with the admin after a bereavement is a daunting task, which can turn into an administrative afterlife. That’s why the people responsible for the Tell Us Once idea are considered to be going to heaven. For those who can’t be bothered to get the private sector’s act together to help the bereaved, it’s worth noting that the other place is lovely and warm this time of year.
In conclusion, it’s important for the private sector to follow the government’s example and make things simpler for the bereaved. It can be a very difficult and traumatic time, and having to deal with endless phone calls, emails and paperwork only prolongs the grieving process. Hopefully, with the work of Life Ledger, EQ and other companies, dealing with admin after a bereavement can become a lot easier and less stressful for everyone involved.
