A WOMAN whose mother died before Christmas was left angry and frustrated after a person working at AIB’s Shannon branch froze her mother’s account after seeing a death notice on Rip.ie.
“It was frozen on December 16, literally minutes after the RIP notice was published. The customer service person, whose name I know, was on it and noticed and within minutes she froze the account,” Dee O’Callaghan told The Clare Champion.
AIB declined to comment on the matter when contacted.
“We do not comment on individual customers. We understand a bereavement is a deeply difficult time for families and we have a number of supports available to protect both the family and the customer’s estate. Once we become aware of a customer’s death, we are obliged to change the status of the customer’s account,” it said in a statement.
However, in a letter to Ms O’Callaghan from a representative of its customer care section, it justified what had been done.
“I am sorry that you are unhappy with the way in which your mother’s passing was identified by the bank. I would however, like to make you aware that it is within the bank’s capabilities under our processes and procedures to flag our customers’ passings when it is confirmed by Rip.ie. This website is updated by the funeral director and is a reliable source of information.”
Ms O’Callaghan was a named person on the account and she said that the freezing of it caused embarrassment and distress.
“My Mum had given money to my two aunts. It was through cheques that were written before she passed. My aunts went to deposit the cheques after her passing and I hadn’t spoken to the bank at that stage, because I didn’t even have a death notice form, never mind a death certificate,” she said.
“When they went to deposit the cheques, they were told that the account showed my Mum was deceased and that the account was frozen.
“Both of my aunts are in their 70s and they said they were really embarrassed and they were made to feel as if they were doing something wrong. That’s how I came to know that the accounts had been frozen.”
She was stunned that the account would be frozen despite there being no contact from the family and she contacted AIB to find out what was happening and why.
“We rang the AIB bereavement department number to ask what is the process. They explained it, and it was what I would have expected, that a family member informs them and provides further relevant documents. I told them what happened, that the account is frozen, can you tell me why it is frozen and who froze it.
“They told me who the person was who froze it and when they did so, because of the notice they saw on Rip.ie. It was the advice of the bereavement department to make a complaint and to go and speak to the person responsible. “
She did arrange a meeting with the person who had taken the decision to freeze the account.
“I asked to meet with the person responsible for freezing the account. I didn’t explain at that point why I wanted to meet with them. We scheduled the meeting and I went in with my aunt,” she said.
“Another person came in with the person who froze the account and when I explained why we were there. I tried to explain it from my perspective, that this is about my Mum who has just passed and that I found what she had done so offensive, and that it was very odd to be sitting on this website looking for customers.
“She said that it’s one of the things they do, monitor that website and if they see a customer they will freeze that account. When I explained that the bereavement office held a different view and felt that they had acted inappropriately, then they were asking who we had spoken to and that they’d follow it up with them. There was no acknowledgement that they should have allowed us the time to come and notify them accordingly.
Ms O’Callaghan spoke to other banks to see if AIB was an outlier.
“I did contact other banks and asked them how they would expect to be notified if someone was dead and did they ever monitor the RIP website. To be honest I think they thought I was mad, there was that kind of shocked reaction,” she said.
Ms O’Callaghan has made complaints to the Data Protection Commissioner, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman and the Central Bank.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.