A 78-year-old great-grandmother in Britain was sent a debt collection letter addressed to the executor of her estate after she was mistakenly declared dead by a utility company.Ginette Bye later discovered the letter had been sent by debt collection agency Phillips & Cohen Associates on behalf of Southern Water over an alleged unpaid bill of £60.87, the Metro reports.The letter reportedly expressed condolences on her “death” before requesting payment linked to her water account, despite monthly payments continuing to be made from her bank account.This account was previously registered jointly with her late husband Paul Bye, who died in 2020, causing this error.Bye said Southern Water was notified of her husband’s death several years in advance and criticized the company for failing to contact her directly before referring the matter to debt collectors.“They have taken direct debits from my bank account every month for the last five years,” Bye told Metro.“If Southern Water had spoken to me and said, ‘Mrs Bye, you owe me £60, fine, I’ll pay it’. That’s what I’m angry about.”He also said the letter could have been very distressing for elderly people living alone without family support.The debt collection notice said Southern Water had been informed that he had “sadly passed away” and claimed the unpaid amount could become a liability of his estate.His son Mark Bye said the family is deeply troubled by the situation.“At first they thought it was a scam,” he said.“She’s almost 80. Something like this could seriously affect anyone.”Daughter Paula McVicar also questioned why payments were still being accepted when the company believed the account holder to be dead.“How can you talk to the bill payer when, according to you, she is dead?” He said.The account has since been completely transferred to Bye’s name and the disputed balance has been removed as a goodwill gesture.A spokesperson for Southern Water apologized for the incident and confirmed that an investigation had been launched.“We regret this error, which has caused unnecessary distress to Mrs. Bye,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Metro.“We are now reviewing our processes to understand exactly what went wrong and ensure it doesn’t happen again.”