Studio Catalogue passing dead mothers account to debt collectors, ready to pull my hair out!

Beki88

My Mum passed away in November 2023. She was basically skint at the time of death as she only received state pension and PIP, had no savings, no assets in terms of anything worth selling, council tenant, no car etc you get the idea.

After she passed away we received a small amount of back pay from her pension, pip and winter fuel payment which all went towards the cost of her funeral. I notified everyone of her passing and anything that had debt was wiped out, the only thing that wasn't was her studio account. They insisted I give them my details which I now massively regret, I told them there was no money, no will etc. In that time they have already passed it on to 2 different debt collectors, the first one eventually agreed not to chase once I had given them the death cert and said it would be passed back to Studio, which I wrongly assumed meant they would close the account.

I'm now being hounded by the second company Phillips & Cohen. At the time of the first debt collector I was dealing with all mum's affairs in an unofficial capacity as there was no will due to her having no money other than what was due from benefits. I since had to apply for a letter of administration because Octopus Energy would not release the credit on her account without this and given that it was £370 I wasn't willing to just let this go as we still owe money for the funeral costs. 

I can't speak to anyone at P&C without them wanting my personal details such as full name, email and phone number which I don't really want to give them as I don't want to be hounded any more than I already am via letter to the "deceased executor of estate".

Can anyone help me with where I stand in getting these vultures (both the debt company and studio) to go away? They don't seem to understand that there is no blinking money left and it's really starting to upset me now. Thank you in advance.

doodling

Hi,

Just write them a letter telling them that:
A ) You are administering the estate.
B ) The assets in the estate were (whatever they were).
C ) The total debts were (whatever they were, including the Studio debt and the ones written off).
D ) The cost of the funeral was (whatever it was)
E ) As the estate was insolvent after the cost of the funeral, there is no money to distribute to creditors. 
F ) Unless Studio are of the opinion that they owe (your mum) money then you would appreciate being left alone at this distressing time.
G ) You will not be entering into any further correspondence on the matter.

Ignore anything else they send (unless it is notification of a court case).

Trying to talk to these people on the phone is pointless - don't even try.

fatbelly

P&C specialise in these accounts. One letter as above should be the end of it.

Post on the dfw board if not

Keep_pedalling

fatbelly said:

P&C specialise in these accounts. One letter as above should be the end of it.

Post on the dfw board if not

Agree, P&C come up quite often on this board and they are not difficult to deal with. A letter stating that after funeral costs the estate is insolvent and has no assets. Also state that no one is administering the estate and include a copy of the death certificate.

That should be the end of it.  

doodling

Hi,

Keep_pedalling said:

fatbelly said:

P&C specialise in these accounts. One letter as above should be the end of it.

Post on the dfw board if not

Agree, P&C come up quite often on this board and they are not difficult to deal with. A letter stating that after funeral costs the estate is insolvent and has no assets. Also state that no one is administering the estate and include a copy of the death certificate.

That should be the end of it.  

In this case the OP is administering the estate (to the extent that one can administer an estate with no assets after funeral costs) so they can't say that they are not.

The fact the they are  being written to as "the deceased executor of estate" suggests that P&C already know someone is dead, although the wording would actually mean that the OP was dead if taken literally - I don't think correcting their grammar would be productive though.  Either way I wouldn't bother sending a death certificate unless they ask for one.

Marcon

doodling said:

Hi,

Keep_pedalling said:

fatbelly said:

P&C specialise in these accounts. One letter as above should be the end of it.

Post on the dfw board if not

Agree, P&C come up quite often on this board and they are not difficult to deal with. A letter stating that after funeral costs the estate is insolvent and has no assets. Also state that no one is administering the estate and include a copy of the death certificate.

That should be the end of it.  

In this case the OP is administering the estate (to the extent that one can administer an estate with no assets after funeral costs) so they can't say that they are not.

Remaining silent on the point (ie omitting A in doodling's post) and just sending points B to G might be the practical way round things?

mattsaze

I have been dealing with Philips & Cohen regarding an energy account that was passed to them, for over three years. They have been really helpful to me, but that is only my experience. My view would be that they’re experienced and sympathetic in dealing with these situations.