Every week, the Money team answers a reader’s financial dilemma or consumer problem – email yours to moneyblog@sky.uk. Today’s is…
My father passed away in April 2022. My mother was formally diagnosed with dementia a few months later. After Dad passed I helped Mum take care of the lion’s share of admin and tried to simplify things in her life cognisant of her reduced capacity. One of the things was to cancel the Sky subscription as this was only ever for Dad to watch the football. In June this year Mum went into full time care and as her son, with full power of attorney, I went about mitigating all her outgoings as I didn’t want her to be paying out unnecessarily now that she was in full-time residential care where everything is covered. Here I unearthed a BT Sport subscription which my mum had been charged for in the past three years. I explained that there was no way my mother would be aware she had this service let alone would use it. We didn’t get any paper bills. BT is unwilling to waiver the charges other than initially offering a paltry £30 on compensation and then at a later date was prepared to offer a further £80, which I declined – this amounts to more than £1,000.
Barry
Thank you for your email, Barry – I was really sorry to read about what your family has gone through and your story illustrates the minefield that often awaits relatives when a loved one dies.
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This is far too big a topic to cover in one post but it’s worth going over some basics that apply across the board (and Citizens Advice has a useful guide here).
When someone dies, the executor named in any will is responsible for sorting the deceased’s financial affairs. If there isn’t a will, an administrator will be appointed – usually a friend or relative.
There are a couple of mechanisms that can help.
There’s the government’s Tell Us Once scheme, which will notify multiple organisations:
- HMRC – to deal with personal tax and to cancel…
