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Mum angered by letter telling her she’s dead; I’m alive and kicking, Gillian tells British Gas

0 Comments | South Wales Echo (Cardiff, Wales), Dec 26, 2009

Byline: Simon Gaskell

A MUM has been given an apology from British Gas – after receiving a letter informing her she was dead.

Gillian Wyatt, 42, of Amstee Court, Canton, Cardiff, was shocked to receive correspondence from solicitors acting for the energy giant addressed to “the executor of the will of the late GillianWyatt”.

Solicitors Phillips and Associates UK Ltd noted they had been instructed todealwith theaccountafter receiving information that Gillianhad “sadly passed away”.

But the mum-of-four told the Echo she has no health problems and doesn’t even have an account with British Gas, getting her energy with Swalec instead.

“I’m disgusted with what they have done to me,” she said.

“I’m livid. I’m annoyed, angry, everything you can name.

“I rang the switchboard up. I said you had no right to sendme this letter – I’m alive and kicking.”

The letter particularly upset Gillian’s husband Andrew, 45, and children Christopher, 18, Elizabeth, 16, Jonathan, 14, and Carl, 12, who has severe learning disabilities.

Gillian said: “It broke his heart knowing I’d had a letter saying I’d passed away.”

Her three brothers Robert, Mark and Kevin, who were British Gas customers, are now boycotting the company and she has been in touch with a number of solicitors.

The letter topped offwhathadbeen a miserable run-up to Christmas for theWyatts. The family said theywere forced to move from Port Talbot after a string of problems with anti-social behaviour and drug use outside their former home.

They are now living with Andrew’s sister Linda, 49, in Canton. It was during a trip to their old address in Port Talbot to collect the mail that they discovered she had apparently “passed away”.

A spokesman for British Gas said: “We confirm that a very small number of customers were sent a letter in error by a financial recovery agency, stating that they were acting on our behalf regarding the final affairs of the customer’s estate.

“British Gas apologises unreservedly to customers who received this communication and for any distress caused
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