Dealing with companies

Halifax were good and cancelled direct debits and standing orders. The local authority, though, were just awful, seemed incapable of sorting anything out, were blunt and insensitive. It was as if nobody had ever died before - so they didn't know what to do.

These days, generally, I simply won't deal with anything by phone. No, I won't be left hanging in a queue, I can't stand the waiting or the music. I won't wait around for a call back either - and certainly won't fund the cost of the call.

It's easy to opt out if you just tell them you are hard of hearing, so can't use the phone. They can email, text or write to you instead. I register on any 'priority services' schemes, often just as elderly, then state my preferred communication methods. No more getting hopping mad on the phone!

Top marks to Lloyds bank. Their bereavement team have been very good, apart from one occasion when the call was taken by someone totally incompetent who told me she was ill and not up to it. I had to abandon my call but the next time I rang they could not have been more helpful.
DWP, TPS and Council Tax sorted. Still getting messages from some companies even though they know the score. Probably a few more to come out of the woodwork which are internet only. Once DH ‘s mobile contract ends they will have to write if there is a bill to settle. I feel I am getting there now. My sympathies to anyone else in the same boat.

I made a call in mid January, 3 months after my husband’s death. I was told it would be ‘expedited’. I was left expecting the first payment to arrive on 30 January, the date they pay pensions. It didn’t arrive, I took a breathe and phoned again in early February. The assistant told me my call on 17 January ‘came too late for it to be expedited and paid that month’. The suggestion was it was my fault for not phoning earlier. I pointed to the dates of several phone calls and emails.
If I hadn’t had my own work pension and savings, I’d have needed a loan to pay monthly bills, never mind the funeral and other expenses.
I received the first payment end February. I’ve had no response to my complaint

5 months waiting Iam64 is wholly unacceptable. If I had not had savings to cover the funeral and living expenses while waiting for the pension to come through I would have had to try and get a loan from somewhere.

They were very "jobs worth" about it and just kept saying that this is how long it takes. At the time my future was very insecure as my house was on the market to cover my OH's nursing home fees and I was looking for a smaller cheaper property - not knowing what my income might be was very worrying and made planning very hard.

Cabbie that’s the point I made yo them. I’d the expense of a week in the hospital end of life care. The funeral which was very well attended, then Christmas

I dealt with a lot of these things on my mum's behalf following my dad's death.

The only one that I remember as being a complete headache was the transferring of the energy bill into my mum's name.

It started out well enough, when I rang the company while my mum was present, and she gave her authorization for me to act for her both then and in the future.
I spoke to a very helpful and friendly person and it was all going to be so easy, with everything in the hands of their dedicated bereavement team.
That was until I realized some weeks later that that the operative hadn't taken down my email address correctly, so I wasn't receiving any of their communications regarding sending death certificate etc
.
Should have been simple to rectify, right?
But no. My emails to the bereavement department asking them to check the email address they were using went unanswered.
I tried phoning but the person at the other end refused point blank to put me through to the bereavement department, or anyone else, because I wasn't the account holder. Er no, that would have been difficult as he was dead! But there was no reasoning with this person, who said there was no record of my authorization to deal with the account.

It went on like that for many weeks, and to be honest I can no longer remember how I finally sorted it. It was probably when one of my increasingly angry emails direct to the bereavement department (who did have me down as authorised,) was finally read and responded to.

Thank goodness it was only one of the utilities, and we at least knew that the gas and elctricity would continue to flow as long as my mum kept paying the bills!

It really is not good enough. What if you hsd no other resources?

I waited 5 months for the first payment from my husband’s local authority pension, I made a formal complaint in February about the delay and the way assistants had responded to my numerous phone calls. I had an email acknowledgement of the complaint. In April, I wrote asking what was happening with my complaint. Their response simply told me how busy they are.

I had a pleasant surprise to discover how much my state pension is increased. The teachers’ pension service is taking a long time to tell me how much I am getting from DH’s pension.
I have had problems this week uploading some requested documents eg death certificate, only to be told that the file is too big. I don’t think so!

That sounds very frustrating.

The biggest problem I had was that the NHS pension fund refused to tell me whether I was named as the recipient of a widow's pension from them. Apparently, even though I was his wife, he could have named someone else and it took them about 6 weeks to let me know that I was entitled to the pension. In the meantime I was left unsure about what my financial situation might be.

In the end all was well - in fact even better than well, as the first statement of entitlement they sent me was superseded by another much higher one - they said the first one was a mistake. I asked for a breakdown of the figures and sought reassurance that the amount was correct. They say it is and have been paying it ever since.

I'm still waiting for HMRC to return a form to me that I need to send to a pension company abroad. The form was sent in 11 months ago. I was told originally it would take at least 6 months which I found totally incredible. Phone calls to chase form mean hanging on for upwards of 45 mins before even getting through to anybody and then their only 'assistance is to send an email to the people who deal with such things. What is going on with them???

Try this company. Very useful at solving consumer disputes:-

www.resolver.co.uk/

I cancelled direct debits. Send letters to each company, registered post and keep copies and date of delivery. Those companies haven`t a leg to stand on after that.

Saggi

My husband is in home with Alzheimer’s….. trying to change names in ‘stuff’ is enough to make you want to shoot your self in the head …..SO I just don’t do it ! All is joint names apart from EDF and nice lady there said “ don’t bother” …nobody cares until you stop l
paying them!!! The worst is Virgin …OMG…trying to get them to stop my husbands football and films subscription was a 3 hour online ‘brow-beating ‘ session….until I ‘threw in the towel’ and settled for a reduction in cost which is now creeping back up again! My son just said “ stop the D/D mum”…but that includes broadband and I can’t be without that!

Saggi - if possible, it's best to just set up a new account for broadband elsewhere and let them sort out the Virgin account.

My dad died in early 2021 and I did a lot of the paperwork, as my mum doesn't have internet access.

Tell Us Once service was really good, though best if you have all the relevant reference numbers etc handy first.

The small amounts of shares he had were probably the trickiest thing to sort out, paperwork wise.

Tell us Once worked really well for me - and Lloyds bank were great too, even though they make no money out of me as I pay my credit card off in full every month.

Thanks Iam64, but it is different from passports. I popped into the Town Council office today for another purpose and asked. They said it is not the same as a passport and it needs to be a solicitor. I am doing further checks.

Cabbie, there’s information on line about who can certify a copy of the will. I’m sorry I can’t remember but I think it’s like passports for example, retired teachers, vicars so no need to pay a solicitor.
I’d to send the original to Probate. 7 months later, I’ve just had a certificate from them concluding probate. Copies go to the , bank, the company where our savings are, hmrc . Probate kept the original will because ‘it is now public property’

You’d think we were wealthy industrialists rather than very ordinary people. I feel cheated because the original has my husband’s signature. He updated it as soon as he was given a devastating diagnosis. He tried to ‘put my affairs in order’ to make things easier for me.
The sadmin ariund the loss of your life partner is awful, as so many of us are finding

One company has asked to see DH ‘s will, the original or a certified copy. I am not risking sending the original. Who can certify a copy? A solicitor, but at what cost? Who might be cheaper? Or free?

Agh! Sorry to hear this DiamondLily
Reminds me of the awfulness I faced when DH died over 2 yes ago.

EE were good. A lovely Frenchman gently told me there would be nothing to pay. He would stop the contract and he did.
But others no good at all.
He had a credit card which I tried to pay off and cancel. I was told they must speak to him!
As for your experience innishowen beggar's belief.

Cabbie I also got nowhere with Ancestry and have cancelled both our subscriptions now.

EDF are still driving me crazy. Despite 4 attempts, by phone, Mail and letter, the account is still in DH's name.

I phoned again yesterday, via their Bereavement option, and the bright spark there told me she'd need DH's permission to speak to me.,.,aaargh!

I told her to find a bleeding medium then and hung up.

I'll make a formal complaint I think.

Yesterday I discovered another bank account, which was with Britannia but a letter informed me it had moved to the Co-op. I rang and they could not have been more helpful. A kind young man talked me through doing things by post but was even more encouraging when I asked if I could upload my documents.
An occupational pension is taking a bit longer to please. They ask for things by stages. Yesterday they agreed they had all they needed and just want my bank details, including a branch! I don’t have a branch! More hoops to jump through.

Tell Us Once, DWP, Equiniti all awful when dealing with my mothers estate last year as joint executor with my sister.
Banks and Post Office were really good,

When did banks introduce a bereavement team? My DH died in 2009 and neither of the two banks I dealt with had a bereavement team, or at least I was never informed of it.
Barclays was very unhelpful and inefficient and it tooks several months to sort out the insurance to payoff the mortgage.
My DH's employer was the slowest and it took over six months to get the money I was due - it is a household name!
Sorting out finances certainly kept me busy in bereavement.

Scottish Power were beyond awful. Put on hold several times, transferred finally to bereavement team but they had gone home for the day. Was promised they would call back at 8am the following day. They called at 9.15. Thought it was sorted out but then I got a letter from them addressed to my late husband offering condolences on the loss of his wife! The saga continued. I then started getting unsolicited calls from various companies asking to speak to Anne.... Not my name but my husband's initial was A. One day when I had finally had enough Scottish Power called asking to speak to Anne... I explained it wasn't my name but the initial letter was the same as my late husband's. I was very polite and even apologised for complaining. The chap on the phone was verbally abusive and snarled "my name is Lewis but I don't mind if I get called Louis by mistake. Goodbye to you, Lucydog, or should I say Anne". I was in floors of tears when I came off the phone having recently lost my husband suddenly when he was only in his early fifties. My next door neighbours also had endless trouble with Scottish Power. On the other hand, Three and out other energy provider, we're outstanding.

I’made a formal complaint to my husband’s pension provider in February. The organisation acknowledged receipt of my complaint in April, after I nudged it. They said ‘we aware very busy”