ScottishPower sent a debt collection letter to my house demanding £130 owing on my late brother’s gas account. I am his sole executor and had informed it of his death.
The company, meanwhile, owed a £430 credit on his electricity account. It eventually paid this with a cheque issued in my late brother’s name, which could not therefore be cashed.
Many emails later, the company reissued it, again in my brother’s name. I was told a third cheque would take four weeks to “manually” process.
Since then, I’ve been issued four more cheques, all in my brother’s name.
ScottishPower has now informed me that his electricity account will be closed as there is no credit left on it, and it has stopped replying to my emails.
JB, London
ScottishPower struggles with the concept of death. In March, I reported how a newly bereaved widow had suffered anguish after the company bombarded her late husband with letters, emails and calls over nine months.
Since then, I have been similarly bombarded by grieving relatives who have tried in vain to tell ScottishPower their loved one died.
BR of Fife was sent a cheque for the £312 credit on his late mother’s dual-fuel account, made out to her.
He also received, simultaneously, a bill in her name for £191, a letter declaring the account was clear, and a letter promising a £60 refund to the same account, which was never sent.
“In my emails to ScottishPower, I was addressed variously as ‘Dear undefined’ and ‘Dear Customers Name’,” he writes.
This insensitivity seems to be a longstanding tradition.
LW of London told me that, weeks after she had informed ScottishPower of her husband’s death, it sent emails to him complaining it had been unable to collect the direct debit from his account. That was in 2018.
“What became clear was that the bereavement line appeared to not communicate with the rest of the organisation, and different departments did not communicate with each other.”
Other readers have also reported the distress of calls, cheques and letters addressed to the deceased.
ScottishPower informed me that bereavement is “incredibly distressing” and it strives to provide “care and understanding” to those affected.
“Regrettably,” it says, “in a very small number of cases, the level of care and understanding has not been met, and in each of these cases we review what we could have done better.”
It congratulates itself on having issued the refund in JB’s case but concedes that the fact it came in the form of repeated uncashable cheques in the name of her deceased brother was not the standard of service it aims for.
It promised a review into its failings but is waiting for the energy ombudsman to complete its investigation before offering a resolution.
It also promised to review BR’s case to ensure such mistreatment never happens again and has refunded the credit balances plus £200 in goodwill.
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