Is this amount of compensation for distress reasonable?

[Wotagain]

My Darling husband died suddenly just over 5 weeks ago.
As the executor I had to contact our bank, First Direct about our joint accounts, and then of course send them the interim death certificate proving he had died. ( it’s an interim one as there will be an inquest).
This was all done within a few days and immediately after myself receiving the interim death certificate from the coroners office.
Two weeks later I received a letter from First Direct, addressed to the executor of Wotagain’s estate, sending their condolences on my death and asking for my death certificate.
To say I was upset is a complete understatement, I was devastated, tearful, shaking, and then really, really angry.
My view is the bereavement team at First Direct had one job, to get the name and details of the deceased person right first time, and not send such a letter to a widow numb with grief.

AIBU to ask for £500 as compensation for this distress?

First Direct have offered me £150 which amounts to just over 1p per day for the years that my husband and I banked with them.

I'm so sorry for your loss OP.

I think they're very reasonable to offer an apology and £150.

I don't think any amount of money would make it better and I don't think arguing over a few hundred quid is going to help you in any way right now. You've got much more important things to worry about.

Sorry for your loss but I agree with most of the others, don't add to your stress, spend the time grieving and remembering the man your husband was. £500 isn't going to help in any way

£500 is extortionate. £150 is a very generous good will gesture over a genuine admin error that has no financial impact.

Sorry for your loss OP

I am sorry for your loss.

I am not sure why £500 vs £150 is going to make you feel better for their admin mistake. This is coming across as a desire for money rather than anything else.

I'm sorry for your loss but I don't understand how money, any amount, compensates here? It's nothing to do with money.

I'm sorry for your loss and the extra distress this caused.

I'd be looking at it like this in terms of quantifying the effects of an event financially (not just this event any event)

Do you require counselling to come to terms with this event
Did you have to take time off work to deal with this event
Did this event cost you financially in any other way such as time taken to correct the mistake, phone calls etc
Are there any long term implications
Was the event so bad that any parties need to be effectively fined or punished
Is compensation legally required

In this case I think £150 is probably fair and it will probably cause you more stress trying to argue against it that isnt worth it

So sorry for your sudden loss

My father died age 45 suddenly when I was a child. My mum had similar issues- bills and letters for YEARS being addressed to him, despite the companies being notified- often more than once. My brother also has the exact same name as my dad- which caused even greater confusion. Not once did my mum ever consider asking for compensation for an admin error though!

Is it the money or the recognition you would like? Where did £500 come from and not £250 or £1000? Just curious. You obviously have a great deal to organise and think about, but its also very raw at the moment- so no, you arent thinking straight. Do you have any close family/ friends you could talk to for their perspective?

No, push for more. You're right, their one focus should be getting the fucking name right in those circumstances.

@Mariposista

150, 500, 100, 100,000 - no amount will make your grief go away, only time will do that. It was a mistake - they weren't doing it to get at you. Move on and seek support from friends and family, not money.

I agree with this. I'm so sorry OP. I would accept the £150 and concentrate on yourself, not an admin error. Fighting for £500 won't make you feel any better and might actually make you feel worse in the long run if it's refused and you end up in a back and forth money battle. I hope you have some support are looking after yourself

@theemmadilemma

No, push for more. You're right, their one focus should be getting the fucking name right in those circumstances.

This is the point, the bereavement team have one job. This is a huge, huge company, that deals in money. My feeling is that only money will talk.

I think we all can understand that this error caused you a great deal of distress but the bank has acknowledged their failing and apologised.
It honestly wouldn't have occurred to me that financial compensation would feature in such a situation.
I think your anger at the bank is reflects your anger at the death of your beloved husband.

I used to work in bereavements and unfortunately mistakes can happen. I would accept the £150.

It's a terrible mistake to have made but I think £150 is reasonable.

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

how emotionally vulnerable and exhausted I feel,

I be absolutely sympathise with how dreadful you are feeling. Bereavement is a process which you will be in for a while, it will take time to get through it all.

It's actually pretty common, I'm afraid to say, that this kind of error is made on letters. It's horrible, I absolutely get that.

Just don't get how £500 would make it better. Or any other amount ? What difference are you expecting cash to make in your emotions ? Does it feel as if they are admitting their mistake ? Or something else? What difference would it make to you ?

For those concerned, I am incredibly well supported by very caring family and friends, will not fixate on this, and was always planning on donating any compensation anyway, not that that’s relevant here.

I think the thing to keep in mind is that a payment for distress is symbolic rather than punitive damages. The amounts are therefore small and will be within set parameters.

I am surprised they offered £150. I doubt you would get any more in court.

Sorry for your loss.

Big companies should be better but they really don’t care. I tried to cancel bank cards for a deceased GP and was repeatedly asked to bring him to the phone to speak for himself (someone at HSBC must have reviewed that recording as I got a very apologetic phone call a few weeks later). Oh yeah - and registering another death - the registrar got the name wrong. One job and they got it wrong (names reversed). Didn’t help my stress levels at all and delayed everything else.

This is the ombudsman guidance for anyone interested

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/expect/compensation-for-distress-or-inconvenience

I'm really sorry you lost your husband. flowers

I think you're lashing out at them because you're so upset and that's how it goes when you're grief-stricken. I wouldn't fight this battle with them, though. You got the letter yourself so you knew they were wrong - I could understand your distress more if it referred to another relative who you immediately thought must have died.

Take care of yourself; it's such a tough time.

I think you'd do better putting your energy into sorting everything out and processing this sad event. I also think you're lashing out at the because you are understandably upset.

Routine admin error. Move on and take care of yourself.

I don't see how you can put monetary value on this mistake and in any case would more money stop your emotional stress?
They have made an apology and a reasonable good will gesture, I think that's ample.
Obviously everything is understandably distressing at the moment and triggers like this are unhelpful. I hope you find some peace soon to enjoy the memory of your DH.

If they had done this to me, it wouldn't have registered at all as an emotional issue. Large organisations make errors like this all the time, I'd just be mildly irritated at having one unnecessary extra thing added to my list.

I think £150 is crap. The bereavement team have one job - just one job and they fucked up really badly.

I don't agree that mistakes happen! In those sorts of jobs surely you check and double check as mistakes like this are going to have such an impact on the people on the receiving end.

I'd say tell them that £150 isn't sufficient.