Great-grandmother is wrongly declared dead in bailiff’s letter demanding £60

A great-grandmother received a bailiff’s letter after a utility company declared her dead despite being very much alive.

Ginette Bye, 78, was contacted by debt collectors Phillips and Cohen Associates on behalf of Southern Water, asking to speak to the executor of her estate.

The letter offered condolences on the ‘death’ of Mrs Bye, support through ‘very difficult period’ – and then demanded payment of £60.87 allegedly owed on her account.

She was paying her monthly bill by direct debit at the time.

Southern Water has since rectified the error and is currently reviewing the process to ‘understand what went wrong’.

Mrs Bye and her family were told the issue stemmed from the fact her account was previously jointly registered with her late husband, Paul Bye, who passed away in August 2020.

However, Mrs Bye said Southern Water had been informed of this more than five years ago, and she has been deeply upset by the incident and the utility company’s lack of communication.

Mrs Bye said: ‘They’ve taken a direct debit every month for the last five years out of my bank account, and the letters coming all say Mrs Ginnette Bye, so it’s in my name.

‘Yet this company (Phillips and Cohen Associates) say they were told I’d passed away on April 10, but a payment was still taken five days later.

‘If Southern Water had spoken to me and said, “Oh, Mrs Bye, you owe £60”, then fine, I’d pay it. That’s what’s annoyed me.

‘If it had been somebody who didn’t have anyone, who was on their own, how upsetting would it be to receive a letter like that?’

The letter sent from the debt collector to Mrs Bye’s house, addressed to the executor of her estate, read: ‘Southern Water has previously received notification that Mrs Ginnette Bye has sadly passed away.

‘On behalf of Southern Water and ourselves, please accept our sincere condolences.

‘We understand this is a very difficult period for you, and our intention is to support you at this time.

‘We would like to confirm that the amount of £60.87 is outstanding. Our client advises us that there is an ongoing supply, the liability for which may lie with the estate of the current occupier.’

Mrs Bye’s family have been left deeply worried by the incident and its impact on the grandmother of six and great-grandmother of three.

Son Mark Bye, 57, said: ‘If mum had no family around, how would she deal with it, because the older generation are not really computer literate, are they.

‘She thought it was a scam at first. I mean, nearly 80 years old, she could have a heart attack from the stress, it really could be that bad.

‘There could be other people that they’ve done the same to who have no family, and God forbid the stress might get to them, and they could be croaking.’

Daughter Paula Macvicar, 55, added: ‘Surely, they should write to you first and then when they don’t get a response, send the letter they did. It shouldn’t just start with this.

‘I can’t get my head around when we rang up, and they wouldn’t speak to us, they needed the bill payer. Well, how can you speak to the bill payer when, according to you, she’s dead?

‘There should’ve been some correspondence before the debt collection letter. They’re still taking the direct debt, so the bank account was still open. Why would they send it straight to this agency?’

The issue with the account has since been resolved with a new account set up solely under Mrs Bye’s name, and the outstanding balance has been wiped as a gesture of goodwill.

But daughter-in-law Cherylin Bye still feels the family are owed an apology for the incident.

‘The new account has been sorted out on their end, but what about my mother-in-law. I said to Southern Water that she’s found this whole thing really upsetting and quite traumatic,’ the 44-year-old said.

‘There was no actual apology for the upset, it was just a case of, well, we can send a letter of apology if that’s what she wants.

‘The gesture of goodwill, doesn’t resolve anything for us. Yes, it’s fixed their end, but they haven’t been very sympathetic, apologetic or anything towards us.’

A spokesperson for Southern Water confirmed an investigation is underway to ensure the issue does not happen again.

‘We’re sorry for this error, which has caused unnecessary distress to Mrs Bye,’ they said, adding: ‘We’ve been in touch to apologise and have refunded her last bill as a goodwill gesture.

‘We’re now reviewing our processes to understand exactly what went wrong and ensure it doesn’t happen again.’