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'Dead' Swede's damages claim killed off

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
'Dead' Swede's damages claim killed off

A 36-year-old woman in central Sweden who was listed as deceased by the tax office has lost her claim for damages after the Chancellor of Justice rejected her demand for compensation.

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Susanne Hemphälä from Sandviken received a letter in April from an insurance company which claimed she was dead. When she looked herself up online with the Swedish tax office (Skatteverket) she found a grave error and discovered that she was listed as deceased. 

According to the tax authority she had been listed as dead for ten days.

"It wasn't a lot of fun. It felt a bit unpleasant," Hemphälä told the Gefle Dagblad newspaper at the time.

She reported the incident to the Chancellor of Justice (justitiekanslern) claiming damages for a loss of earnings and telephone costs associated with the matter.

Now the Chancellor of Justice has rejected her claim stating that the fault does not lie with the tax office as they acted correctly on the information they received at the time, stating that the foundations which the certificate were based upon were wrong.

The Chancellor of Justice added that it was "very regrettable" what happened but that the state was not obliged to pay damages when there are errors on a death certificate.

Hemphälä had previously told local media that she received a phone call from the GP, who had declared her dead by mistake. She stated that she was just outside the doctor's office and asked if she could come in and discuss the matter but he replied he was too busy to see her.

As a result she was critical of how the health centre handled the matter and filed the complaint for damages. She has since said she's had enough about her tales of resurrection and wants to get on with her life.  

The Local/pr

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