A WIDOW whose husband died in a tragic accident has finally received her late partner’s last wages – putting to bed fears of not being able to pay her mortgage.

But there are claims that the payment came nearly two weeks after Lisa Shaw’s bank, HSBC, had said they would transfer the money to her account, leaving her scrambling at one point to sort finance and loans to pay her mortgage and bills.

Her sister, Claire Pratt, was resolving the situation on her sister’s behalf and hit out at HSBC for the way it had dealt with the situation.

She said: “In her worst moment, HSBC treated her contemptibly.”

Mrs Shaw, 48, from the Abb Scott Lane area of Low Moor, was left heartbroken after her 47-year-old husband, Phil Shaw, fell down a flight of stairs in a Bournemouth Wetherspoon pub and died in hospital later, on Sunday, February 23.

The family’s devastation was “exacerbated” when Mrs Shaw was unable to access her husband’s final wages. The day after Mr Shaw’s death, Mrs Pratt rang HSBC’s Bereavement Team to inform them of the news. She claims she was told that his final wages - which were due to be paid in the following days - would be used to pay Mr Shaw’s credit card.

But Mrs Pratt said HSBC had no right to do this and that any money coming in to the bank account of someone who has died has to be shared between different parties.

She added: “You can’t just say you’re keeping it all yourselves, and secondly you shouldn’t do that because it’s the wrong thing to do."

It was agreed that Mr Shaw’s account would be blocked from receiving any payments and closed instead, with Mrs Pratt saying she was assured his wages would not go in.

But, on February 26, his wages went into the account, which had now been closed, and Mrs Shaw could not access it for the vital funds.

Mrs Pratt spent the first few days of March attempting to resolve the situation with HSBC, but described the process as convoluted. She was told on March 3 the wages would be paid into Mrs Shaw’s account, then later that day this was postponed until the morning of March 4.

When nothing had arrived by March 5, Mrs Pratt rang HSBC again and claims she was told “we can’t speak to you because it’s in hand”.

The wages were eventually paid on March 9.

Mrs Pratt said: “You’ve got someone who’s life has been devastated, the least of their worries at that point in time is having to pay their mortgage and paying bills.

“I know it was sorted down the line but she was looking to sort finance and loans to pay off everything, but she shouldn’t have had to do that.

“This is why they have a bereavement line, to deal with particular circumstances. They should be supporting those people, but this was making it worse. Every other company I spoke to on Lisa’s behalf have been brilliant, offering payment breaks and to send someone round. I spoke to four or five different people at HSBC and they all got it wrong and more importantly, the process at HSBC is wrong.

“It’s not about money anymore, it’s how they’ve treated her."

A HSBC UK spokesperson: “We are sorry to hear about Mrs Shaw’s recent loss and extend our deepest sympathies to the family. We have released the salary to her account and are currently investigating comments about the service she has received and will respond shortly.”