South West Water Probate and Bereavement Complaint – Debt Collection Threats Before Probate Granted

DandelionBlue

Has anyone else had difficulties dealing with South West Water during probate/bereavement administration?

I’m acting as executor for my late grandad’s estate and, honestly, every other bank and utility company has been understanding and straightforward to deal with apart from South West Water.

I notified the death through the Tell Us Once service and also completed South West Water’s own bereavement/contact process. However, later correspondence and conversations stated that they had “no record” of receiving bereavement contact or notification.

What I find particularly frustrating is that, despite claiming not to have received any contact, they nevertheless clearly held and used my personal contact details in relation to the account afterwards. That contradiction has made the whole process feel extremely confusing and stressful during an already difficult time.

South West Water also do not appear to offer a dedicated bereavement team, bereavement email address or direct bereavement phone number. The process seems to rely largely on an online contact form, meaning there is no easy way to follow up or even confirm whether your notification has actually been properly logged.

Meanwhile, correspondence has continued warning of possible escalation to debt collection agencies and court action before probate has even been granted, despite the estate itself being solvent and the liability relating to the estate administration process.

I’ve now submitted a formal complaint because I genuinely think their bereavement handling process needs significant improvement. Probate administration is stressful enough without executors feeling personally pursued over estate liabilities during an ongoing probate process.

At this stage I may simply pay the balance temporarily to avoid further escalation and stress, even though the estate itself will ultimately settle its liabilities in due course once probate is granted.

Interested to hear whether others have had similar experiences with South West Water or other utility companies during probate.

fatbelly

Don't pay because of their stupid letters. They do churn them out but they are meaningless. Pay when you are ready.

If you've made a formal complaint, they should get back to you.

Those of us in SWW area know that incompetence runs deep there.

DiamondLil

When acting as executor for a relative's estate, I was chased by the house insurer for one outstanding monthly payment due.

The insurer told me to "pay it from my own money and then claim it from the estate".

The probate helpline advised me to just ignore and never to pay estate bills from my personal money.

MayDogsandCoffee

Hi, Had something similar here with a different water company, had three separate phone calls and filled the form in but they said I hadn't notified (despite mention the form). I know you probably have enough going on without adding but one way to make them work is to put in a subject data access request - they have a legal obligation to provide all the information with your name on - have a look on the ICO website for full info (not sure if I can send links). You can also request a payment plan rather than pay in full, even if you have the money let them sing for it.

Marcon

You can make a SAR via the ICO's website: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/make-a-subject-access-request/