They Called Themselves 'Neighbours'...

Audrey says the neighbours did everything they could to raise the alarm and describes being repeatedly reassured when she called Peabody's customer care line that someone would investigate.

"That's the one thing that I regret - that I believed Peabody. I regret not calling the police sooner, because I just trusted that they were going to do something."

Why would you keep doing the same thing and expecting a different response? Isn't that the definition of something? 

After Sheila died, her rent stopped being paid, so Peabody sent letters, emails and left voicemails. But in the following year, no-one visited to check up on her. This is despite her always paying her rent on time since she'd moved into the flat in 2014. Instead, without having spoken to Sheila, Peabody applied for universal credit to be paid directly to it on her behalf. It did this via a government scheme called Alternative Payment Arrangements, which is intended for tenants struggling to pay their bills.

So once again, government policies make something worse. It's strange how often that happens, isn't it? 

Then, in April 2020, her gas safety check - an annual obligation for landlords - was due. When Peabody's contractors could not get into the flat, again no-one from Peabody visited. Instead it wrote letters and then cut off her gas supply.

*sighs* 

Another factor in why Sheila wasn't found sooner was how isolated she was. A video of her funeral shows just one person standing at the front of an empty crematorium - her estranged half-brother Viktor, who said he hadn't spoken to her for years. Another person, a representative from Peabody, walks in late. No other family. No friends.

And no 'neighbours' either, you'll note... 

H/T: Ian J via email