DWP stopped woman's pension payments for months after HMRC told her she was dead

An 89-year-old from Cornwall's opened a letter from the government which told her she was dead. 

Elizabeth Harris, who lives in Carharrack near Redruth, received a letter from HMRC addressed to the representative for her estate on 15 June June.

She was shocked to read of her own death when she opened it.

The letter read: “I'm sorry to hear of your recent bereavement and I recognise this is a difficult time for you”. 

Elizabeth’s son-in-law Dave Crabtree said: "It came as a little bit of a shock to say the least, seeing as she’s alive and kicking.”

On the same day she received a bank statement that showed her pension payment had not been made.

Dave said: "She completed a form for the executor in which she said she was still alive and put me down as the main contact, and returned it on 22 June. This is because she’s hard of hearing so would struggle with all the phone calls. 

“I phoned HMRC on 28 June and was told they'd received the form, but for the pension to be reinstated I had to speak to the Department for Work and Pensions.” 

Dave was told the HRMC systems said Elizabeth had died on 11 May. 

He said: “I was told she’s dead on one system, but alive on all the other systems.

“I was told they could sort the problem out but then a month later it still wasn’t in her bank account. I made lots of calls and sent letters, but by the end of July there was still nothing.

“This is when we really started to panic.” 

It was not until Wednesday 7 August, after Dave spoke to the press, that Elizabeth finally got the money she was owed - with three months of payments made.

“Within the last 24 hours due to media attention the payment has been made. I did ask if she’d get any compensation, but that was a no," he said.

Although this story has a happy ending, there’s a worry of other issues like this affecting other people. 

“Our main concern is how many people has this affected? This can’t be a one-off. 

“I actually got a call from a former tax inspector thanking me for bringing this problem to the attention of others. Many elderly people might not have people that could help them if they were in this situation. 

“It is ridiculous you need to go to this length to get through the system, there were so many hoops to jump through, it wasn’t a simple process.” 

When approached, HMRC said the DWP is responsible for pension payments.

The DWP is unable to comment on individual cases but it is understood it is looking into Mrs Harris' case.