17 hours ago
9
My sister passed away nearly two years ago but I am struggling to get British Gas to accept she is dead.
Since her death in July 2023 I have emailed, called and even got the legal firm handling probate to contact it. They sent a certified copy of her death certificate but all that happened was the address on the account was changed to the solicitor’s.
Bills and promotions addressed to her continue to be sent to the email I set up to manage her affairs when she was first taken ill. I should add that I live in Australia. She lived in Solihull.
As my sister had no family in the UK I had to arrange her care, register her death and make funeral arrangements from the other side of the world. I was able to do it all, including closing her water and electricity accounts.
Not so with British Gas. The bills for her empty flat continue to arrive, including one for £580 on the first anniversary of her death. I found this upsetting, so called customer services again. They promised to contact the solicitor and, if there were any further problems, to email me.
Three days later another bill arrived with the accompanying threat that it would be referred to a debt collector. Bizarrely, British Gas even sent her a customer satisfaction survey just after last Christmas.
At one level this might appear to be a bit funny – rather like the Monty Python dead parrot sketch. But it is not. It’s insensitive and upsetting and indicates a level of incompetence that’s mind-boggling.
KM, Australia
This has been an upsetting episode for you, and the distance involved has added to the difficulty in bringing it to a close. Unfortunately, mistakes were made by the British Gas advisers involved in the closure of your sister’s account.
When it was first notified, the staff member in the bereavement team failed to update the name on the account. This is why bills and correspondence relating to her flat (which is now on the market) were still being issued in her name. When your solicitor followed up, the address was then manually updated incorrectly. British Gas assures me that the account is no longer in her name but that of the estate. It has apologised to you and the £92 owing on the account has been cancelled as a goodwill gesture.
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