Octopus still no refund after 13 days!

JARING

I’ve been trying to get a £460 account credit refunded after the account holder passed away, and you wouldn’t believe how difficult Octopus makes it. I can send them money in milliseconds, but they take forever to process a refund. Seven calls (all recorded on my iPhone), more than ten emails, and three messages to “king of the sea” Greg Jackson - still nothing.

They might be easy to join, but that slippery Kraken sure keeps a tight hold on your money!

Netexporter

They will need to verify the final meter reading, which involves "the mysterious third-party", so it is not entirely in their hands. Did you submit photos of the meter, that can help to speed things up.

QrizB

I'd suggest that "seven calls, ten email and there messages to the CEO" is entirely excessive and unnecessary. Just let them get on with it.

It's not as though the account holder is in urgent need of the money.

JARING

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81931900#Comment_81931900

In this case there is a smart meter so the final meter reading is already available to them.

I can't quite work out if it's incompetence of delberate obfuscation and delay. A modern version of the old "the cheque is in the post" line.

JARING

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81931902#Comment_81931902

In fact the estate do need the money sooner rather than later to prepare the house for sale given the bank, NatWest, have blocked the account until Grant of Probate.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6660725/octopus-still-no-refund-after-13-days

Sorry for the loss.

Octopus 1st have to produce a final bill (up to 6 weeks) As the credit you mention will/may not take into account any usage since the last bill. Especially if bills were just estimated.

There is then the matter of who is going to be paying for bills since the death. As standing charge etc still need to be paid.

QrizB

NatWest, have blocked the account until Grant of Probate.

The refund would normally be paid back into the account that it came from. Have you asked for it to be paid elsewhere? If so, this could be causing some of the delays.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81931908#Comment_81931908

You may find that the lack of probate being granted is going to get in the way with the refund as well…

JARING

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81931914#Comment_81931914

You've obviously never managed an estate when someone passes away. The moment you notify any of the Banks of a death they put an immediate block on payment in or out of the account and block online banking. Only cheques remain as a possible route for paying money in. There are no options for paying money out until Probate has been granted (can take up to 12 weeks - sometimes much longer).

It's not only inconvenient for refunds like this but it also makes it difficult to get 7 years of history for IHT400 tax form where you need to account for all gifts exceeding £3,000.

JARING

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81931911#Comment_81931911

There's a smart meter at the property, I can see consumption in real-time. There is no need for a 6 week delay these days.

QrizB

So we all agree that, even if this refund is paid, there's no way the Estate is going to access it until probate is granted.

What's the rush with this refund then?