A WARNING letter urging a Wexford man who has been dead for 11 years to pay the household charge has been received by his family, causing them great upset.

The letter was sent by Wexford County Council’s Finance Officer Annette O’Neill earlier this month, addressed to Richard Kelly, 62 Belvedere Grove, and was one of a large number of similar letters sent to people who have, (as of yet), not paid the household charge.

Richard Kelly’s widow Margaret told The Echo: “It was upsetting to me and my family to receive this letter addressed to my late husband who is dead 11 years. My daughter Anne and I also received letters in relation to the household charge for the property.”

Ms. Kelly said: “They aren’t checking anything. It’s very upsetting to receive this; if it had been a few months after he died you would know it’s a misunderstanding but 11 years is a long time. Even my sons and daughters got upset.”

The reminder letter asks for the payment of €127, warning that this sum will increase on a monthly basis unless the money is paid. It goes on to state that the letter may contain an error relating to the name and address of the person it is intended for and gives contact information for the central bureau.

Ms. Kelly said she hasn’t gotten around to paying the household charge yet.

Finance Officer with Wexford County Council, Annette O’Neill said she wanted to apologise to the Kelly family for the mistake, but said the issue lies with their own personal records, stating that their Land Registry details need updating.

“Effectively what is happening is the Land Registry is being used for these letters and obviously that family hasn’t updated the records since that man died; you are going to run into these problems,” Ms. O’Neill said.

For the full story see this week’s Wexford Echo newspaper.