A married couple were left gobsmacked when their bank told both of them that their partner was dead. Ben and Gill Gibson's bank cards stopped working and, when they attempted to fix the issue, they were informed about each other's declaration of death.
Ben, 63, was sent a replacement card but was baffled to be told that his wife Gill, 65, was deceased when he contacted Halifix bank about her card not arriving. Later that month, Gill then received letters of condolence from the bank concerning her husband's death too, the Mirror reports.
The couple, from Stratford-upon-Avon have since had to reopen multiple accounts to verify their existence to DVLA and their car insurance company, after the bank had also informed the organisations of their deaths. Halifax, which is a part of the Lloyds Banking Group. has now launched an investigation into how the bizarre mistake occurred.
Ben has said that he is angry about the time he has wasted trying to clear up the ludicrous situation that has left his ''mental health in tatters'' as he fears this could have been a ''malicious'' attack on him and his wife. He said: "The guy on the phone said, 'Excuse me sir but your wife has deceased'. I said, 'No she’s in the front room - do you want to speak to her?'.
"I'm furious about it. I dread to think how much time I've spent on this - hours and hours. It has been an absolute nightmare. We've had to rebuild our entire financial life and that's not easy. It's been a constant worry. It's horrible, and it's been going on for a long time."
Gill, a teaching assistant, went to the bank on August 15 to replace her card after it didn't work when she was shopping. Ben's own card also stopped working just a week later, he claimed, so he ordered a replacement. But, while his arrived after a few days, Gill's still hadn't appeared. Ben then called the bank, with whom they have been with for decades, on September 1 - to be told his wife had died.
Despite staff chatting with Gill and agreeing she was alive, the account remained frozen and the grandparents-of-four had to go through the bereavement team before they could get any of their money. More problems then followed when Ben returned home to find shaken Gill looking over letters at their dining table on September 24.
The post, addressed to the executors of Ben's estate from the DVLA and his car insurers, explained the bank had stopped payments to them - because he was dead. The letter from the DVLA said: "We have been advised that the bank account in the name of Benjamin Gibson has been closed due to the death of the account holder. Please accept my condolences."
The parents-of-three said they have since had to reopen numerous accounts. And although the DVLA and car insurance was sorted quickly, Ben explained he was still reinstating cancelled payments in and out of the account at the end of September.
The bank explained to him that an external agency had declared Gill dead, but no reasons were offered for his own apparent demise, he said. "To be fair, the lady at the bereavement service was mortified," Ben said. "There are websites where you can go and say someone has died, all you need is to say where they bank, you don't even need the account number. They're meant to help relatives after someone has died, but the bank should have some way of verifying the information.
"This could have been malicious, it's actually very scary. We're fortunate to have a little put to one side in another account, but what if we didn't? Not everyone has friends or family they can borrow from."
Gill said: "This whole thing has been a total nightmare. I would like to know who can inflict this on anyone - my mental health is in tatters. "Ben has worked tirelessly to try and sort this out. When Ben told me the Halifax operator said I was deceased and wanted to speak to me I was numbed and shocked it was if the stuffing had been knocked out of me. I still feel like that."
The couple said they were paid £300 in compensation on September 12 and a further £200 on October 3. A Lloyds spokesperson said: "We’re really sorry for the upsetting experience Mr and Mrs Gibson had and we are urgently investigating how this happened. We have removed the block from their account and made a payment in recognition of their experience.”
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