Post Office sorry for account error

12 April 2012

The Post Office has been forced to apologise to thousands of pensioners after more than 100 card account statements were sent to the wrong customers.

The details of about 120 customers' accounts were mixed up during printing of 5,500 letters sent out last month.

The Post Office rejected suggestions that 5,500 had been affected, but said it had written to inform anybody who might have been involved.

The incident came to light in a memo from a civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) advising colleagues about the situation.

Chris Keogh, an official in the Leeds office of pensions and finance directorate, wrote: "5,500 POCA customers will be receiving someone else's statements.

"The Post Office and its suppliers have apologised for this mistake, customers will be sent their correct statement shortly."

However, the DWP acknowledged that the number of statements that had gone to wrong customers was not 5,500.

A Post Office spokesman said: "An error which occurred during a print run by EDS of 5,500 Post Office card account statements resulted in a very small proportion of these account holders - we believe around 120 - receiving some incorrect information.

"The Post Office has apologised to anyone who may have received incorrect information and assured them of the strict security procedures in place around the use of the POCA."

A spokesman for the DWP said: "The Department was simply ensuring its staff could provide information to any customers worried about the Post Office's mistake. There was no intention to mislead. Our aim was, and is, to ensure customers who contact us for any issue get information they need."

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