When Aiofe’s husband died, she informed all the banks where he had accounts. But one bank continued to send letters to her late husband.
What happened
Not long after her husband passed away, Aoife and her family contacted all the banks and financial businesses where he’d had accounts, investments or policies. All of them were helpful and efficient, which was important to Aoife because resolving her husband’s financial affairs helped to provide closure.
However, one bank continued to send letters to her late husband.
Every time a letter came for her husband, it distressed Aoife. She’d have to phone the bank, explain once again that her husband had died. And every time she’d ask it to stop sending him letters.
But the letters kept coming. Every time she called the bank, someone assured Aoife that it wouldn’t send more letters, but no one could explain why the mistake had happened. And the letters didn’t stop.
After several months, Aoife complained to the bank, describing the distress the letters were causing her. But she wasn’t satisfied with the response so came to us.
What we said
We considered what Aoife had said about the bank making things much worse for her at what was already an extremely difficult time. She told us about the distress she felt every time she found a letter addressed to her husband, and how this had added to her grief.
We thought the bank had caused Aoife significant upset over several months. This was made worse by the fact that it continued to send the letters after she complained. So, we thought an award of £1,000 for the distress it had caused was fair.