I have spent the evening writing a strong letter to the Mutual Society that provided the savings plans we have paid into over the years so that the children would have a little money to help them through university. One of Emily's plans has matured and I have had to wage war with the company because they are insisting that they will only deal with my late husband as he was the first named adult on the policy. They have been happy enough to take my money all this time but they need him to sign on the dotted line, provide proof identity and have the money paid into his account. Despite various letters and phone calls we are no further forward, hence the stroppy letter. I have provided his death certificate twice, I would have thought that was fairly conclusive evidence of death but they are not convinced. It is so frustrating!!
It is not the first time that I have struggled to get things altered. Having had proof of death the tax office addressed a letter to The Late Mr J...., insisting that he had to complete and sign his tax return before they could finalise his tax affairs. My solicitor wrote to them in a rather more animated letter than the usual dull legal jargon! It took me over 3 years to get the TV licence transferred into my name, I can't understand why it is so complicated, after all it is a situation that they must come across quite frequently. I couldn't help laughing when our telephone provider had been especially helpful in sorting everything out and then spoiled it by writing to my late husband to thank him for informing them of his death and inviting him to view his bill online in future!
Back to the present, Robbie was back at work today after the holiday, he had to get up at 5.15am as there was no direct rail route to Birmingham today. He had worked out a contorted route in order to avoid the replacement coaches which take forever to get there. I was not at my best at 5.15am and I think Robbie was rather glad to escape! He was a bit late home because of ongoing travel complications and he was a bit disheartened because his MD has 'gone over to the dark side'. I can't blame him, I think given the choice most employees would rather work for Virgin than Arriva even if that means working for Virgin West Coast. A couple of other senior managers are leaving too, Robbie will be sad to see them go and he is worried about the loss of knowledge and leadership when the CrossCountry franchise transfers to Arriva in November.
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