Charged after death

Planeahead

Have just found out that my late Mum has been getting charged for mobile phone sim and broadband for 2 years after she passed away. 

We informed the company over the phone at the time but they're now saying that they have no record of being informed of her death.

We never noticed before as even though the provider account was in Mum's name, she was using my sisters bank account to make the payments. 

The company has said that they will close down the account but are refusing to discuss or refund any of the money for the past 2 years

Where do I stand with this?

Exodi

If it was over the phone and they claim they have no record, unless you have recorded the call, you have no evidence you informed them either and it'll be your word against theirs.

From Ofcom:

A provider should close the deceased person’s account on request. You shouldn’t have to pay a penalty fee (also known as an Early Termination Charge or ETC), although business accounts may be treated differently. While we understand that you might not notify the provider of a person’s death straight away, the provider is not required to backdate the closure or refund any money paid, although some may choose to do so. It is possible for a provider to recover any outstanding charges on an account via probate, but providers often also waive these.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/accessibility/notifying-a-provider-of-a-customers-death


Unless you can encourage them to issue a goodwill refund, I'd suggest you may be on a hiding to nothing.

Has either the SIM or broadband been used at all in the last two years? Was the payment taken by monthly DD? How was it not noticed by your sister for 2 years? These types of situations always surprise me, many on these forums can tell you all of their monthly DD's to the penny.

MyRealNameToo

What evidence do you have of informing them?

Keep_pedalling

This is your sister’s problem, so you don’t really have any standing in this. 

Aylesbury_Duck

I think this is going to be a situation where a well-worded letter (from your sister, as she's the one who's been making the payments) explaining the situation is the best thing to do, hoping it elicits some goodwill.  Without a record of having closed the account, you appear to have nothing firm to work with.

Get your sister into the habit of checking her statements monthly.  Lots of people are paying for things they no longer use or need.  The previous occupants of my house spent thousands over several years paying for magazine subscriptions and household insurances they couldn't use, despite me "returning to sender" everything that came my way.

GrubbyGirl_2

Might be worth looking on your phone to see if you can prove you made the call.  My recent call list goes back to June 2023.  Unless you have proof you may have to suck it up.

grassmarket

Nothing ventured; nothing gained! My sympathies - no doubt you both had a lot on your plate at the time.

Are you in contact with the actual Bereavement Team? If you get no joy from them - write to the CEO.
Find out who/where to contact on the ‘CEO email.com’ website. 

I find that (or the ‘suggestion’ of it) is often the best tactic with telecoms. 

Your provider can easily check there’s been no broadband or mobile usage. Presumably house vacated anyway? So provider has incurred zero costs on a non-existent service. 

They claim they’ve no record of you phoning them - but that proves absolutely nothing. I find telecom providers often fail to record phone & contract discussions properly - which is why I now I keep my own records.  

I once got the biggest telecoms operator to refund over £200 incurred by cancelling my parents’ Anytime calls package. Like you, I didn’t notice for 2 yrs, but telecoms couldn’t prove my parents had requested it either. 

And if all that fails - take to social media! 

Some other responses here seem rather negative & fatalistic. That’s not very Money Saving!