Banks. Don't You Just Love 'em ?

[Poppy]

A lady died last year and MBNA bank continued to send monthly statements for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge.

The balance that had been £0.00 and rose to over £60.00.

A family member placed a call to the MBNA Bank:

Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you that my grandma died in September.'

MBNA: 'But the account was never closed and so the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'Maybe you should turn it over to your collections section.'

MBNA: ‘Since it is more than two months overdue, it already has been.'

Family Member: ‘So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'

MBNA: 'Either report her account to the Frauds Department or report her to The Credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member: 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

MBNA: 'Excuse me?'

Family Member: 'Did you just get what I was telling you...…. The part about her being dead?'

MBNA: 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'

Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member: 'I'm calling to tell you, she died last September.'


MBNA: 'But the account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'

MBNA: (Stammer) 'Are you her solicitor?'

Family Member: 'No, I'm her grandson'

MBNA: 'Could you fax us a death certificate?'

Family Member: 'Sure.'

( fax number is given )

After they get the fax:

MBNA: 'Our system just isn't set up for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'

Family Member: 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don't think she will care.'

MBNA: 'Well, the late fees and charges will still apply.'

Family Member: ‘Would you like her new billing address?'

MBNA: 'That would help.'

Family Member: ' Plot 1049, Heaton Cemetary, Heaton Road , Newcastle upon Tyne.'

MBNA: 'But, that's a cemetery!'

Family Member: 'Well, what the f*** do you do with dead people on your planet?'

The MBNA were not available for comment.

[Breydon]

Having executed the two wills of my parents I have found the best thing to do immediately after a death is to get enough sealed copies of the death certificate. I know  this costs money but saves a lot of grief.

Send the copies of the death certificates by "Royal Mail Special Delivery" to all financial institutions the person has dealt with with covering letters saying the person has died and to freeze the account until you or an executor has the appropriate documents to close any accounts and release any money. Make sure you make it clear that you want the certificates returned promptly. 

I know it seems a bit crude doing this directly after a person's death but it nips occurrences as Poppy describes from happening.

If you continue to get problems I have found that writing to the chairperson of the bank with copies of all correspondence with the institution. don't mess around on the telephone, get written evidence. Also tell the offending organisation that you have written to the chairperson and send them a copy of that letter. It really does work wonders. I believe that MNBA is owned by Lloyds Bank so write to Antonio Horta-Osorio who is the chairman. I have had dealings with him and he really does get things moving, heads roll and bums get kicked!  

[Chelsea14Ian]

I would contact the Banking Ombudsmen,giving as much information as possible, and the response you had from the bank.Keep copies of any/all reply.

[FairTmiddlin]

After my Mother died I went to all financial institutions she had dealings with. But did it personally. Most of them required an appointment but all of them were within three or four days. All of them were compassionate, efficient and very speedy in transferring the balance of the accounts made up to the date of cancellation. In fact two of them phoned me two days after the appointment to make sure the executor accounts were in place so they could transfer. Even the local council were very efficient in cancelling the council tax. DWP were a completely different kettle of fish, they couldn't organise a bun fight in a bakery. 

[ranworthbreeze]

All banks, insurance companies and the local authorities will have a bereavement officer, ask to be connected to them, they will instruct you what you need with regards to death certificates and as already stated they will freeze any accounts until all the legalities have been completed.

Regards

Alan

[Breydon]

16 hours ago, FairTmiddlin said:

DWP were a completely different kettle of fish, they couldn't organise a bun fight in a bakery. 

Santander and Cheltenham and Gloucester B/S are also in the same category. They both failed to send me the final balances of the accounts for weeks thus delaying the execution of the wills and then lost the death certificates for months. The certificates were finally returned after much correspondence without any explanation or apology.

Incidentally, Santander lost a friend's life savings which were in a bond. It took months for him  to regain his savings. I told him to take his money elsware and they talked him into taking out a tracker ISA. The ISA lost quite a bit of money but it was on a rapidly rising stock market, heaven knows where the money went. He withdrew the money that was left, closed the account and bought some Government bonds.

[YnysMon]

I must admit that Santander were very good with me after my Mum’s death. I called in personally at the local branch, with my Mum’s death cert and proof of my ID, and everything was sorted very professionally and sympathetically. 

[eddybear]

When my father died we were hounded by Reader's Digest, even before his death we had written to them and told them to stop sending him their so-called free gifts which she didn't want, and then insisting he had to pay postage to send them back if he didn't want them which he differently didn't.

Just after his death we got a telephone call from Reader's Digest saying that none of their correspondence had been answered and they were taking legal action, we explained That he had died, to which they replied yes we are very sorry but how are we going to get our money, my brother then told them where they could stick their Reader's Digest along with the Enormous Cyclopedia collection they sent which he also didn't order and didn't want, never heard from them again thank God

[grendel]

14 minutes ago, eddybear said:

When my father died we were hounded by Reader's Digest, even before his death we had written to them and told them to stop sending him their so-called free gifts which she didn't want, and then insisting he had to pay postage to send them back if he didn't want them which he differently didn't.

Just after his death we got a telephone call from Reader's Digest saying that none of their correspondence had been answered and they were taking legal action, we explained That he had died, to which they replied yes we are very sorry but how are we going to get our money, my brother then told them where they could stick their Reader's Digest along with the Enormous Cyclopedia collection they sent which he also didn't order and didn't want, never heard from them again thank God

the usual recourse to companies like this is to give them a date to come and collect their unsolicited goods and state that any items not collected and any unsolicited goods sent after the notification would be disposed of and any charges related to said disposal would be charged to the company.

That usually stops them.

[Guest]

In my part of the world, banks and police stations are like Woolworths, a thing of the past...

[charlesa]

Poppy that is extraordinary but I am not surprised.

A few days after my father had died I had a call from the coroner's office asking to speak to him ( they had my phone number as the contact/ Executor):

" Hello, this is the coroner's office, please could I speak to Mr A, we'd like to discuss his post mortem with him".

It was a trainee who apologised profusely at being so thick.

Had to laugh really as my father would have done !!

[Breydon]

I had a run in with Talk Talk a few years ago when I closed my account with them. They wrote to me saying there was seventy five pence credit on my account and to phone them to claim it. As usual with these sort of things I was put on an endless queue playing rubbishy music. I hung up the phone and just wrote off the seventy five pence as it would cost me more to reclaim.

A couple of weeks later I received a letter saying that  I should pay them the outstanding debt on my account otherwise they would send the bailiffs in.

I wrote to the address on the letter head of the letter and Talk Talk returned it saying I had sent it to the wrong address.

I phoned them again and after half an hour listening to horrendous music I got through to somebody that appeared to have his brain in gear. I explained the problem and he profusely apologised and said a cheque would soon be in the post. I firmly told him to sort out his office and that if I received any more threatening letters they would be hearing from my solicitor. A cheque promptly appeared through my letter box.

Ever since then when I walk through a local shopping centre and am accosted by Talk Talk salespersons I proclaim in a very loud voice so that everybody hears exactly what I think of Talk Talk and what they can do with their product.

A few weeks after my problem Talk Talk were on one of these consumer programs on the television trying to explain the reasons for their appalling customer service. Obviously they had upset a lot of other people too. 

 

[JennyMorgan]

Breydon, coincidently I had similar problems with both Sky & BT, I am now with Talk Talk and am well pleased with them, they have never upset me!