Bank Letter

whittle1047

Hi has anybody heard of a bank writing to The Representatives of X thanking them for letting them know about the passing away of X,  The X is me and I have not died

sparelogin

Yes, I think just about everyone has heard of it.

But I don't think public awareness is the issue. You need to contact the bank to tell them you're not dead.

naedanger

whittle1047 said:

Hi has anybody heard of a bank writing to The Representatives of X thanking them for letting them know about the passing away of X,  The X is me and I have not died

It might be worth visiting the bank in person. All your accounts are likely to have been frozen so you probably want to get the matter corrected quickly to minimise further issues e.g. if any regular payments bounce etc.

The bank should have checked the identity of the person who reported your death and been satisfied they were either a close relative or executor etc. So while mistakes can always happen I would have thought this sort of mistake should be rare.

Manxman_in_exile

Is there any reason why someone sufficiently close to you to be able to report your death to your bank would do so - if you are not dead?   Might be something to think about before persuading (or attempting to persuade ) your bank that you are still alive...

p00hsticks

naedanger said:

whittle1047 said:

Hi has anybody heard of a bank writing to The Representatives of X thanking them for letting them know about the passing away of X,  The X is me and I have not died

It might be worth visiting the bank in person. All your accounts are likely to have been frozen so you probably want to get the matter corrected quickly to minimise further issues e.g. if any regular payments bounce etc.

The bank should have checked the identity of the person who reported your death and been satisfied they were either a close relative or executor etc. So while mistakes can always happen I would have thought this sort of mistake should be rare.

Not just the ID of the person reperting the death - in my experience they wouldn't actually freeze the account until they had sight of a death certificate.

whittle1047

My card was frozen yesterday but because it's a joint account the direct debits are ok 

naedanger

It is strange. If you get an explanation then please post back their response.

(My own guess is they closed the wrong person's account, so perhaps someone with a name or account number similar to yours has died. Obviously they should have checked all details but people do make mistakes no matter what controls are in place.)

whittle1047

That's my thought thanks 

Marcon

whittle1047 said:

Hi has anybody heard of a bank writing to The Representatives of X thanking them for letting them know about the passing away of X,  The X is me and I have not died

Sounds like an everyday error in the world of banking... I doubt it's more serious than that, so annoying rather than worrying.