DVLA wrote to my dead dad to tell him his driving licence had expired

Rachael Clark has been bombarded with letters and emails from the DVLA and Scottish Power addressed to her late father Richard who died in 2022.

Despite informing the companies that her 85-year-old father had been dead for two years, the letters and emails have continued.

In a heartbreaking coincidence, a letter from the DVLA addressed to Richard arrived on October 25 - the anniversary of his death.

In the letter, the government agency asked Richard to renew his licence which had "expired".

Rachael was so incensed she sent the letter back to the DVLA, along with the address of Belper Cemetery where he father is buried.

The family have also been deluged with correspondence from Scottish Power who continued to write to Richard about his energy usage.

The company included Richard's name in each email they sent despite the family notifying them that he had died.

The situation became so distressing Rachael moved her mother Pat, 82, to a different energy supplier.

Education manager Rachael, 56, said: "It is just so painful. It drags up all that loss and grief all over again.

"I just think they don't care, they are putting profit before people, and ultimately they are not bothered about the knock-on effects of that.

"It's been mainly emails from Scottish Power.

"They've been the biggest cause of angst as it's been two years of trying to get dads details removed from mum's account.

"Ever since we lost dad we've called them asking them to remove his name, we get endless emails.

"Each time they'd send some correspondence, every time dad's name was on it.

"After I sent the letter back to the DVLA, they phoned me. They didn't know it was going to arrive on the anniversary.

"That was very unfortunate that it arrived on the anniversary. I thought not 'another one', this has been ridiculous.

"On the form it asked us for dad's address so I just put 'Belper Cemetery' and sent it back.

"I have no idea what's happened to dad's driving licence - I wouldn't be surprised if it had been sent to the cemetery."

"I think companies need to take this seriously because everybody, sadly, is going to be affected at some point in their life by bereavement.

"They need to understand the impact of their action, or lack of action."

Richard passed away following multiple health issues including heart problems.

Just weeks before the second anniversary of his death Scottish Power emailed him, asking him to provide a new password.

Rachael, a development manager, said: "Scottish Power's whole attitude right across the board has been 'we don't care'.

"We were just speechless, we thought we'd done everything that we needed to do.

"These organisations rely on systems that aren't fit for purpose.

"It's horrible, you are living with that loss every single day and you have got these constant reminders.

"You thought you had done everything you needed to do, then you get these emails and letters in the post and it brings it all back to you."

Scottish Power and the DVLA have apologised for the blunder.

A Scottish Power spokesperson said: "The recent email received should not have been addressed to him as all account holder details had been changed back in March of this year - we are very sorry this happened.

"We understand how upsetting it can be to receive bills and requests for payments addressed to a loved one who is no longer with us, and we do everything we can to help our customers during this period.

"However, we are also required by law to meet certain rules when it comes to discussing account information with someone who is not named on the account which can, regrettably, cause a delay in amending account details."

A DVLA spokesperson said: "We sympathise with Miss Clark and understand the distress caused.

"We recommend people use Tell Us Once service, but unfortunately, on this occasion we did not receive notification that Mr Clark had passed away and we are looking into why this happened.

"A member of staff will contact Miss Clark directly to discuss the case further."