Bureaucratic nightmare
Sir: Dealing with the financial affairs of a deceased relative has made me wonder if standards in our service industries have declined. In correspondence with our major banks I have been beset by problems. Two made mistakes in the figures they gave me, these being corrected after a letter and a reminding telephone call. Another named the deceased incorrectly, another required four reminders by telephone before the inquiry was answered and the fifth needed one telephone call before a reply came.
Two branches of government departments had to be phoned before letters received replies. One replied to the wrong address and also named the deceased incorrectly. The relevant papers were actually delivered by hand to the Probate Registry. An interview subsequently took place but it has taken ten weeks, less one day, from the first filing of the papers for the grant to be issued. In my view the whole procedure took an unreasonable length of time, even though inheritance tax was payable.
Charles E. Speight
Wilmslow, Cheshire
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