A bewildered woman was left without access to her own money and had her passport cancelled after her bank mistakenly registered her as dead.
Masithokoze Moyo, 45, of Kidderminster, Worcs, was shocked to learn Co-operative Bank had marked her as deceased after she attempted to close her account.
Her nightmare ordeal began when she phoned the Co-op on 5 February and informed them she was switching to Santander, after 21 years. At first, the transition appeared to go smoothly.
As all of her direct debits were in the process of being transferred to her new Santander current account, Masithokoze began using a credit card in the meantime to pay for everyday goods.
Days later, while shopping in her local Sainsbury’s, she discovered her Vanquis credit card had repeatedly declined – leaving her with no other option to pay for her items.
Masithokoze’s confusion turned to despair when she called Co-op Bank to pinpoint the problem – where she was informed by the operator she had been registered dead.
Her life was soon thrown into chaos once she’d learned her bank had contacted all of her creditors and incorrectly informed them she had died – even issuing her with a death certificate number.
Masithokoze, who works with the DWP and runs her own private jet firm, said: ‘I had 11 direct debits with the Co-op bank and all were cancelled successfully, but after speaking to the agent she ticked the reason as deceased.
Masithokoze Moyo, 45, of Kidderminster, Worcs, was shocked to learn Co-operative Bank had marked her as deceased after she attempted to close her account
‘The Co-op then began writing to my creditors that I passed on. The main creditor was for my Vanquis credit card, where on February 12 it got declined in Sainsbury’s.
‘I have four credit cards in total and all were declining. The embarrassment of all of my credit cards delving, the stigma, it was an awful thing to experience.’
Masithokoze’s credit score is now zero, and she’s been forced to borrow cash from neighbours – and on one desperate occasion, she even had to ask for £3 for necessities.
After spending three weeks contacting her various card providers to try and resolve the issue, she finally gained access to her accounts on 21 February.
Her driving licence and passport were also cancelled, forcing her to miss out on a holiday to South Africa.
She said: ‘The letters said they were sorry to hear of my passing and were providing my next-of-kin with the final bill.
‘My driving licence and passport were also cancelled as I was dead. I even have a death certificate number.
‘They even informed the DVLA and I was driving around in my car untaxed. They told my water, electricity and car finance company. My appliance insurance company, too.
The ordeal has left Masithokoze, who is single and has no children, facing severe distress including short-term memory loss – and she now plans to take Co-op Bank to court
‘I have no idea how this has happened as someone has verified my death. Whose information are they using to verify I have died? It is really concerning.’
The ordeal has left Masithokoze, who is single and has no children, facing severe distress including short-term memory loss.
She is now demanding the Co-operative bank payout £5 million in compensation for the distress caused.
She added: ‘I want compensation of £5 million and I’m being generous. They cannot put a value on my life, it borders on defamation of character.
‘It feels like they are saying my life and the distress they have caused me is not worth £5 million. They’ve offered no compensation at all and I’m going to take them to court.’
A spokesperson for the Co-operative bank said: ‘We are deeply sorry for the distress caused to Ms Moyo.
‘We are working closely with her to compensate her for the repercussions of our error, and we are working hard to review the process that led to the error in order to prevent this from happening again.’
