Firm’s apology to bereaved woman over debt of 5p

RICHARD BRANSON’S cable company has apologised after a grieving daughter was “hounded” for just five pence outstanding on her dead mother’s phone bill.

Joan Purnell, from Bristol, died aged 86 after battling cancer, after which her daughter began tidying up her finances.

Margaret Jewell, 59, immediately paid off the full £3.19 (€3.62) that was left on her mother’s Virgin Media account.

But she then received a second bill demanding 5p she had been “over-credited”. Grieving Ms Jewell was also warned that this figure would go up to 35p if not dealt with quickly, she said.

Ms Purnell – who worked well into her 70s for both Wills tobacco and Brooke Bond tea – survived breast cancer in 2007. But just two months later was struck down with lung and liver cancer.

Her daughter from Withywood, Bristol, looked after her from the diagnosis until she passed away.

Ms Jewell said the insensitivity was “just another dagger to the heart” because she had explained the bereavement to them.

She told the Bristol Evening Post: “It feels like I am being hounded for money when all I want to do is be allowed to grieve in peace with my family.

“I know these companies need paying, but when it is such small amounts you feel ‘why do they bother’?”

A Virgin Media spokesman said yesterday: “Ms Purnell’s account had a small remaining charge automatically billed after being over-credited with VAT adjustments due to the 15% rate which we pass on to customers.

“While the charge was valid, due to the small amount involved, we have now cleared the account and apologised to Ms Jewell for any distress this may have caused during this difficult time.”