A ScottishPower customer says the company sent a debt collection letter to his home demanding £130 for his late brother’s gas account, despite being told of the death and despite his role as sole executor. He says the utility also owed a £430 credit on the brother’s electricity account, but the refund was repeatedly issued as cheques made out to the deceased, making them impossible to cash. After several emails, ScottishPower reissued the cheque multiple times in the brother’s name, with the customer later told that a third cheque would take four weeks to be “manually” processed. Since then, he says he has received four more cheques, all incorrectly addressed, and has now been told the electricity account will be closed because no credit remains. He says the company has stopped replying to his emails.
The complaint is part of a wider pattern of problems reported by bereaved customers. The Guardian’s consumer column says it has heard from several grieving relatives who say ScottishPower continued to send letters, emails and calls to dead customers even after being informed of their deaths. One reader from Fife said he received a cheque for £312 on his late mother’s dual-fuel account, but it was made out to her. At the same time, he received a bill in her name for £191, a letter saying the account was clear, and another promising a £60 refund that never arrived. He also says emails from the company addressed him as “Dear undefined” and “Dear Customers Name.”
Another customer in London said that weeks after telling ScottishPower about her husband’s death, the company still sent emails to him in 2018 complaining that it could not collect his direct debit. She said it became clear that the bereavement line did not communicate properly with the rest of the organisation and that different departments were not sharing information.
ScottishPower says bereavement is “incredibly distressing” and that it aims to treat affected families with “care and understanding.” It admits that in a small number of cases that standard has not been met and says it reviews what could have been done better. In the case of the London customer, it said the refund was eventually issued, but accepted that repeated uncashable cheques made out to a deceased person fell short of expected service. The company said it will review the matter further once the energy ombudsman finishes its investigation. In the Fife case, it said it would review the complaint to ensure similar mistakes do not happen again, and it has refunded the credit balance plus £200 in goodwill.
