Bank blocks her card and her account: "I called the bank for information and was told I was dead"

by Mark Bennett

October 31, 2022

Bank blocks her card and her account: "I called the bank for information and was told I was dead"
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Some of us will have experienced bizarre incidents in life that can be quickly dismissed. Most of us just laugh these weird things off and get on with our lives.

Among the things that can happen, for example, is finding out your credit card has been declined - without a valid reason. This may seem "trivial", but the reason for the card being rejected can be absurd. Let's find out together what happened to the subject of this story when her card was declined:

via The Sun

Pxhere - Not the actual photo

Pxhere - Not the actual photo

Natalie Holdsworth is a 30-year-old English woman who lives in Bridlington and is the mother of 3 children. One day, she was at a supermarket when she was informed that her credit card had been declined. This was strange as Natalie had sufficient funds in her account. Confused, Natalie contacted her bank.

She spoke to an operator: "They asked me for my information and did their checks. Then, they came back on the line and told me that I had died a little while ago". That's right, the 30-year-old was reported as being deceased, which is why the bank had decided to block her account. How could this happen?

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Pxhere - Not the actual photo

Pxhere - Not the actual photo

It all started with the passing of her grandmother, Eileen McEvoy, who was cared for by her granddaughter, Natalie. Since Eileen's pension was credited to the young woman's account every month, when the old woman passed away, the account that was closed was not right one. This mistake caused Natalie quite a few problems, as we can see.

"After 3 hours on the phone, I was told that everything was sorted out, but I would have to wait a few weeks before I could use my cards again. Fortunately, I had help from my partner and my family, otherwise I'd have be in trouble," Natalie said.

Pixabay - Not the actual photo

Pixabay - Not the actual photo

Once the problem was solved, Natalie proceeded to seek compensation from the bank for the inconvenience caused. Initially, however, the company offered her just £ 11 pounds to cover the cost of her 3-hour call to them. After refusing this, the bank offered her £ 73 pounds. This was unacceptable to Natalie, so she took the matter further.

The Financial Ombudsman got involved and Natalie was awarded £ 1289 pounds in compensation. "The figure is still too low. The bank caused me so many problems and I had to borrow money from friends and family. It is not easy to live without money these days for so long," she said.

Having one's account blocked and being considered dead would not be pleasant for anyone. How would you have acted?

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