Woman left penniless for weeks after bank thought she was dead

By Adam Dutton and Lauren Chaloner

A woman was left without access to her money for weeks and had her passport canceled after a bungling bank registered her dead.

Masithokoze Moyo, 45, was shocked to learn Co-operative Bank had marked her as deceased after she tried to close her account.

She only realized the mistake after her credit cards were declined while she was doing a weekly shop in Sainsbury’s, leaving her with zero funds.

Masithokoze phoned the bank on February 5 to swap to Santander after banking with the Co-op for 21 years, but somehow the operator registered her as dead.

Her bank then contacted all of her creditors and informed them of her incorrect passing, even issuing her with a death certificate number.

Now her credit score is zero and she’s been forced to borrow money from neighbors, even asking one to lend her £3 on one desperate occasion.

Masithokoze, who works with the DWP and runs her own private jet firm, said: “It was February 5 that I called the Co-op bank to cancel my direct debit to move my current account to Santander.

“I had 11 direct debits with the Co-op bank and all were canceled successfully, but after speaking to the agent she ticked the reason as deceased.

“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.

“I logged into my Vanquis app and saw a number, and called them. They told me that they had been notified that I had been deceased.

"They told me on the 6th of February they had been told by the Co-op bank that I had been deceased."

She spent 16 days contacting her various card providers to try and resolve the issue before finally gaining access to her accounts on February 21.

Her driving license and passport were also canceled, forcing her to miss out on a holiday to South Africa.

Masithokoze, of Kidderminster, Worcs., 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 license and passport were also canceled as I was dead. I even have a death certificate number.

"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.

“I spoke to the Co-op and the operator explained what had happened which triggered them to inform my creditors that I was dead.

"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.

“It meant that from the 6th of February until the 26th I had no access to my money.”

The ordeal has left her facing severe distress including short-term memory loss.

Masithokoze, who is single and has no children, 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 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."