An elderly couple was left without access to their bank accounts after they were proclaimed ‘dead’ in their system.
Ben and Gill Gibson, 63 and 65, were left in shock after calling the bank about their card use issue only for the employee on the line to tell Ben that his wife appeared to be dead, hence the reason why her account couldn’t be used.
“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?’” Ben recalled.
To add insult to injury, Ben also received a letter in which he was sent condolences for his own death just weeks later.
“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,” a letter from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency read.
The letter also explained that the bank stopped payments to his car insurers because of the account holder’s alleged death.
Since the double mistake, the Gibsons were forced to spend a huge amount of time dealing with the issue while temporarily having access to their money cut off even after explaining it was all just a mistake.
“I’m furious about it. I dread to think how much time I’ve spent on this – hours and hours,” Ben added.
“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.”
While Halifax – the bank in question – has already launched an investigation into the issue, it has yet to come to the bottom of the terrible mistake.
“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,” Gill added.
“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.”
As the couple noted, the issue with DVLA was resolved quickly. Other canceled payments and financial contracts, however, allegedly took them hours upon hours to reinstate.
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