A distraught widow has claimed an energy company sent her a CD featuring her dead husband’s voice – to get her to pay a bill.
Scholasticah Rowland had been married to her 57-year-old husband Robert for 17 years when he died last August.
Ever since his death, Mrs Rowland, 54, has been fighting EDF Energy over an unpaid bill of £292.
She claims her husband always paid for energy bills and said she wanted the last one written off as a gesture of goodwill.
EDF allegedly tried to get Mrs Rowland to pay the money back by sending her a CD featuring a recording of her dead husband’s voice as evidence that she was also responsible for the bills.
The mum-of-three from Crayford, south east London, said: “Last month EDF sent me a CD with a recorded message of my husband’s voice from July last year.
“The only reason why he phoned them was to put my name in our account because it only used to be in his name.
“These people care more about making money rather than people’s emotions.”
Mrs Rowland added that she hadn’t even listened to the recording all the way through yet because it was too upsetting.
She said: “Instead of mourning my husband’s death, I’m constantly thinking of EDF.
“It’s like cutting my wound which is already open. I can’t carry on like this.”
The bereaved mum said she contacted the Energy Ombudsman Services and that they said the energy company should write a letter of apology and pay £50 into her account.
She changed her energy supplier in December as she believed the bills were too expensive for a newly-single mum to pay.
She said: “I’m so distressed because this is killing me.
“To them he was just a customer but to myself and my family he was a family man who we mourn and miss.
“I never denied being jointly responsible for the account, all I asked was for the final bill to be written off as a gesture of goodwill for the distress EDF has put me through during this difficult time.
“When I received the CD, it was psychological and mental torture – I’m having sleepless nights.”
EDF have since agreed to credit Scholasticah’s account with the full amount owed for the bill.
A spokesman said: “We are very sorry for Mrs Rowland’s loss and understand that this is a difficult time for her.
“Mrs Rowland’s name was added to the account prior to the death of her husband as requested by them.
“At that time we explained to both Mr and Mrs Rowland that they would have joint responsibility for any account balance.”
The spokesman added that EDF had offered to set up a payment plan for Mrs Rowland which takes into account her ability to pay and we had been waiting for her to agree how she wants to do this.
He said: “Although Mrs Rowland is liable for payment, as a gesture of goodwill we have today credited the account with the full amount and there is no need for Mrs Rowland to take any further action.”
ENDS
