Council tell dead man to advise them if his circumstances change

Bristol City Council wrote to a man who had died of cancer to tell him his tax discount was being stopped – but that he could renew it if he wanted. Steve Hutchings died on February 22 after losing an 18-month battle against cancer and eight brain tumours. But that didn't stop the council writing to him – on the day of his funeral – to explain why his council tax discount was no longer available. The letter goes onto explain that if he wanted to reclaim he could, but urged he "please do so without delay". It also suggested he call the council's tax hotline if he needed help renewing his claim.

Mr Hutchings sister Linda was horrified when she saw the letter, two days after she buried her brother. The siblings had been living together but were entitled to a council tax discount because Mr Hutchings was disabled. She said: "I couldn't believe it when they sent this. I could understand if it was a mistake, but they clearly knew he was dead. It threw me off my feet. I was in tears and then I got angry. I wouldn't have minded if they had written to me but they knew he was dead and sent it anyway. You hear about this sort of thing happening but you never think it will happen to you. It's not funny. I don't believe it is forgivable."



The letter, which is not signed, was headed "claim ended: cl death". It read: "Your claim for benefit has ended with effect from the above date for the reason shown. If you wish to reclaim housing or council tax benefit, please do so without delay. Normally benefit will be paid from the Monday following the date we receive your claim. You can obtain a claim form and advice by ringing the helpline service. Please note – please return your completed application form immediately, even if you do not have all the required documentary evidence.

"You may lose benefit if you delay sending us your application form." Finally, at the bottom it stresses, "you must tell us if your circumstances change". The council has apologised for the letter, putting it down to "human error". Spokesman James Easey said: "This is an appalling error and we apologise unreservedly to the family. There is no excuse and we have rigorous checks in place to ensure this does not happen, unfortunately due to human error we failed in this case. A benefits manager has visited the family to apologise in person for the obvious distress this must have caused."