Difficulties with cancelling online matters after a death

Keswick1uk

A thread covering difficulties when cancelling online accounts after death 

Keswick1uk

I've started this as I've spent all night tonight fighting with Ring.

On 22nd May my Mum died.

Dad never liked the Ring set up so we took the doorbell down and disconnected the outside camera. I - I thought- cancelled the contract and git an email saying 4 dollars refund to be credited.

Now they've charged another 40 dollars to my Dad's card!

I've spent all night trying to access the account what with verification codes that weren't arriving at her email address. Only to find the account is still running. No idea why. So I've cancelled it - again. Hope that's it for now.

I have to say they've not been at all helpful. I've tried Twitter and their online support but no one is set up to help people dealing with a deceased account.

When I think how helpful "3" were. It's amazing how different the helplines on different companies are.

Anyway, just a heads up that to cancel you cannot use the app there is also an online account. And when in the account don't assume you've cancelled when you think you have! Make sure you ring your bank or whatever to stop any future claims from them.

Marcon

Keswick1uk said:

A thread covering difficulties when cancelling online accounts after death 

Might be better to have different threads with the title of the relevant supplier in each, which seems to have worked well for others, although given the misery and frustration you've just had I can see your line of thought entirely!

jonnydeppiwish!

I have to say that @Vodafone were amazing when my FiL passed in March - cancelled the contract taken out 6 weeks before and writing off the phone there and then.

Dave_5150

In all fairness I had no difficulties with cancelling any of my Dad's services when I used the providers bereavement teams. Even contracts such as British Gas Homecare, insurance and mobile phones were cancelled and refunds given when necessary.. 

Savvy_Sue

The only company I had any difficulty with were a catalogue company, to whom Mum owed nothing. Nevertheless they were unable to close her account unless I posted them a death certificate - nothing as sensible as being able to email a scan. For all I know, the account is still open.  

BooJewels

Funny you should say that @Savvy_Sue - that was the one I had difficulty with - a catalogue my father must have bought from some time ago.  I'd already been managing his affairs for 18 months before he died and never had anything from them, then got a statement, so tried to close it.  My difficulty came when I spoke to their overseas call centre - and the lady on the phone didn't know what 'late' meant.  She kept telling me to put him on the phone. Even when I explicitly said "I can't he's dead" she suggested that he should write to them. That's probably still open too - the new people in his house may get occasional post from them.

Skiddaw1

jonnydeppiwish! said:

I have to say that @Vodafone were amazing when my FiL passed in March - cancelled the contract taken out 6 weeks before and writing off the phone there and then.

Things must have come on a bit with them. They were PANTS when my father died back in 2008. I was the exector of his estate (I also had POA for him prior to that) but they just wouldn't deal with me. As in @BooJewels example they persisted in insisting they had to speak to him and just couldn't seem to comprehend what dead meant despite me sending them at least three notarised copies of the death certificate (which they kept losing). In the end, my husband rang them and pretended to be my father (which worked thankfully). I can still remember hiding in the next room so they wouldn't hear me laughing. We still talk about it.

spearoelo

My Mother has died and the bank has frozen her account and her D/Ds have not been paid. I phoned British Gas HomeCare Insutrance today and they told me that the contract will have to be cancelled and she will be billed for any gas repairs they have carried out this year + £65 access and £30 administration. They have carried out some repairs this year and on top of that we will have to pay for these repairs. As the property will be empty until it is sold they told me I would have to take out a new twelve month contract in my name. Then the same conditions will apply if I cancel this, which I most probably will have to when the house is sold. How can this be right?  

Marcon

spearoelo said:

My Mother has died and the bank has frozen her account and her D/Ds have not been paid. I phoned British Gas HomeCare Insutrance today and they told me that the contract will have to be cancelled and she will be billed for any gas repairs they have carried out this year + £65 access and £30 administration. They have carried out some repairs this year and on top of that we will have to pay for these repairs. As the property will be empty until it is sold they told me I would have to take out a new twelve month contract in my name. Then the same conditions will apply if I cancel this, which I most probably will have to when the house is sold. How can this be right?  

Nothing to make you take out a new contract in your name unless you want to do so. Maybe what they said was that if you wanted to take out a new contract it would have to be in your name - in which case it would be entirely reasonable for the cancellation conditions to be whatever they are on the new contract.

RAS

Please start a new thread.

And have you spoken to the dedicated bereavement team or just the standard help-line?