A pensioner from north Norfolk was blocked from her bank account after records claimed she was dead. 

Heather Derkacz, 72, from North Walsham, has been a Bank of Scotland customer for around 50 years.

She had shared an account with her husband and continued to use it after he died in 2022.

Mrs Derkacz first noticed a problem with the account when the direct debits for her gas, water and electricity started being rejected.

She alerted Bank of Scotland only to be told she had been recorded as deceased on their system.

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"I have no idea how this happens to someone," Mrs Derkacz said.

"When my husband died I had to prove it to the bank with death, marriage and birth certificates.

"I'm still alive so they haven't seen my death certificate - how did they declare me deceased?"

Bank of Scotland has apologised for the "upsetting experience" and Mrs Derkacz has now regained access to her finances but she said the ordeal was so stressful that she became ill.

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"I was getting so many letters telling me I was in arrears and owed so much money. 

"The council wanted to take me to court and I had to speak with a solicitor and Duncan Baker to try and prove what had happened.

"I hadn't received a bank statement in months so I didn't know the payments weren't going through.

"When I realised how bad this all was, I was so ill that I passed out and dislocated my hip."

A Bank of Scotland spokeswoman confirmed Mrs Derkacz had been declared dead due to an administrative error made when a colleague was updating their records.

She confessed this led to a block on the account and any direct debits scheduled to leave it.

However, she said the problem had been corrected as soon as Mrs Derkacz's solicitor made them aware at the end of April.

“We’re really sorry for the upsetting experience Mrs Derkacz had due to the error we made, which we’ve fixed," she added.

"We covered the costs incurred and made an additional payment in recognition of her experience.”