Kate Garraway last night accused a London council of making ‘unsettling’ demands of her late husband Derek Draper – and has finally got a response 17 hours later.
Political lobbyist Derek died aged 56 in January, weeks after suffering a heart attack before Christmas following his courageous battle with Covid-19.
Now three months on from her husband’s death, Kate claims that Haringey Council, in north London, is still sending Derek ‘demanding’ letters which she said he ‘obviously can’t respond to’.
The grieving Good Morning Britain host fumed at the council and begged for help after claiming she had spent ‘ten days’ trying to speak to an official.
Only this morning has the local authority replied to her social media posts, asking for more information about what the problem was.
Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway has accused a local authority of continuing to send letters to her late husband Derek Draper
Political lobbyist Derek died aged 56 in January after a long battle with Covid-19
The pair are pictured smiling at each other during filming for Derek’s Story which documented the final year of his life
Kate claims that Haringey Council (pictured), in north London, is still sending Derek letters which she said he ‘obviously can’t respond to’
Good Morning Britain host Kate, 56, took to social media on Tuesday to express her frustration with Haringey Council and beg for their help
The 56-year-old wrote on X/Twitter yesterday shortly after 5pm: ‘@haringeycouncil -please help – have been trying for ten days sold [sic] to speak to someone about my husband passing away – following unsettling post making demands which obviously he can’t respond to.
‘I just cannot get through. Again today nearly 50 mins wait.’
After finally managing to get through to someone, she claims she was put ‘straight back to the beginning’. She said she was then put on hold for another 20 minutes before the call cut off at 5pm.
Visibly irate at the lack of response, she added: ‘Is there a bereavement service or SOMETHING!!!!’
Kate did not clarify what the post was in relation to or what ‘demands’ were being made.
MailOnline has contacted a representative for Kate, and Haringey Council for comment.
The council did finally respond to her this morning on X, formerly Twitter – 17 hours after her own posts, at 10.09am today.
The local authority said on the site: ‘Hello Kate. I’m sorry to hear that. Please send us a DM and provide the details of your enquiry along with your contact details and I’ll see what I can do to help. Thank you.’
Fans have rallied to her support, with one urging: ‘This is so wrong on every level! Kate has enough on her plate, respond to her now.’
Another posted: ‘This is just typical. What a terrible thing to be dealing with after everything that has happened to your family. So sorry for you Kate.’
She was also told: ‘Do these people literally have nothing better to do? What can be that important? They should not be sending you any kind of stressful letters.’
Derek was among the first in the UK to fall seriously ill with Covid-19 and was admitted to an intensive care unit as the country entered lockdown in March 2020.
He was one of the country’s longest-suffering Covid patients after being in hospital but never fully recovered after the virus left long-lasting damage to his organs and meant he needed round-the-clock care. He suffered a heart attack before Christmas and died on January 3.
Kate could have to pay a staggering fee of up to £800,000 for all the care used for her late husband Derek Draper
Broadcaster Kate has spoken candidly about losing her husband and has also opened up about her perilous financial state
Derek’s final moments were shown in the documentary, that also captured him talking on camera about his battle for the first time
Haringey Council finally responded to Kate’s posts this morning while fans have been sending her messages of support on X, formerly Twitter
Broadcaster Kate has spoken candidly about losing her husband and has also opened up about her perilous financial state.
In the ITV documentary Derek’s Story – which was filmed while he was still alive – she says his care was costing £16,000 a month.
In an emotional admission of the couple’s dire finances, she said: ‘Derek’s care costs more than my salary from ITV and that is before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay any household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids, so we are at a crunch point.
‘I am in debt. I can’t earn enough money to cover my debt because I am managing Derek’s care and I can’t even use the money I do have to support Derek’s recovery because it’s going on the basics all the time.
Kate – who owes between £500,000 to £800,000 – told The Times last month: ‘Derek’s needs were clearly so great, yet he didn’t warrant funded care — so you think, “If he isn’t getting it, then who is?”
‘To be fair to them, no one’s contacted me since he’s passed away to ask for that. They may well still do, but they haven’t as yet.
‘The bigger picture of the further appeals I haven’t addressed yet, because I’m still in survival mode. It’s supposed to be a system that’s meant to catch you if you fall. But actually, it feels like it’s trying to catch you out.’
Derek’s final moments were shown in the documentary, that also captured him talking on camera about his battle for the first time.
He really ‘wanted to have his say’ despite his illness leaving him with very limited speech, according to The Sun.
The touching ITV documentary captured emotional moments alongside his children and his beloved wife Kate as he bravely fought the disease after four years.
A poignant moment from the documentary’s trailer, showed the former political adviser lying in bed as he wrote down in his notepad.
During a heart-wrenching moment from the clip, Derek said: ‘My name’s Derek Draper, I want you to hear my story.’
The GMB host sat on his bed as she asked, ‘You’ve written Covid changed everything. Do you mean for you?’ as Derek replied: ‘Yes.’
A source told the publication: ‘Derek really wanted to make this documentary and have his say. It was incredibly brave of him to let cameras into his home.’
Speaking with co-host Ed Balls on Good Morning Britain, Kate admitted she ‘can’t quite believe’ that Derek isn’t with her to ‘watch his story’.
‘It’s been pretty emotional actually. Makes you want to jump in the screen and give him a hug.’
