Masithokoze Moyo’s bank marked her as deceased, triggering a series of bizarre events she couldn’t explain. After having her driver’s license and passport revoked and being unable to access her money, the 45-year-old was driven to borrow money from neighbors.
It all started when Moyo, a Cooperative Bank customer for 21 years, contacted the bank early last month to switch to Santander Bank.
In the process, a bank employee allegedly listed her as dead, which led to a series of legal and financial problems that kept going for weeks.
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She sensed something was off track while shopping at a Sainsbury’s in England in early February. All four of her credit cards were denied when she tried to pay for her groceries.
Moyo told SWNS, “I have four credit cards in total and all were declining. The embarrassment of all of my credit cards delving, the stigma, it was an awful thing to experience.”
Lost, she called one of her credit card companies, Vanquis, and was surprised to hear that Co-operative Bank had told Vanquis that she had died.
The bank also allegedly called all of her creditors, including the water, energy, and auto finance companies, as well as her appliance insurance provider and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
She explained, “They even informed the DVLA and I was driving around in my car untaxed. ”
Losing her passport and driver’s license also kept her from traveling and forced her to miss a planned vacation to South Africa.
Moyo, who works for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and owns her own private jet company, was left with no access to her money. She said her credit dropped to zero after the bank contacted creditors with a death certificate number.
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With no money in her bank account and no working credit cards, she was forced to rely on the generosity of her neighbors.
“My driving licence and passport were also cancelled as I was dead. I even have a death certificate number,” Moyo told Metro News. “I have no idea how this has happened as someone has verified my death. Whose information are they using to verify I have died? It is really concerning.”
Later in February, she regained access to her accounts. But the harm had already been done.
Moyo spent 16 days desperately calling banks, credit card companies, and government organizations to convince them she was still alive.
Even after her accounts were restored, she was still dealing with the effects of the error, which she alleged had caused her great distress, including short-term memory loss.
She plans to sue the bank on claims that they have failed to offer her any meaningful compensation.
“I want compensation of £5 million [$6 million] and I’m being generous,” she stated.
She added, “They cannot put a value on my life, it borders on defamation of character. It feels like they are saying my life and the distress they have caused me is not worth £5 million. They’ve offered no compensation at all and I’m going to take them to court.”
Meanwhile, a Co-operative Bank representative apologized without providing any information about a financial settlement.
“We are deeply sorry for the distress caused to Ms. Moyo,” the spokesperson said. “We are working closely with her to compensate her for the repercussions of our error, and we are working hard to review the process that led to the error in order to prevent this from happening again.”
