TxTag bill sent to dead Driftwood man

The man's daughter says the bill said her father had been driving on a Houston-area toll road in November, however he died in late October.

DRIFTWOOD, Texas - A Driftwood woman says her father recently received a TxTag toll bill in the mail for driving on a Houston-area toll road in November, but her father died the month before.

Suzanne Carver and her husband David Jenkins were back home on Monday after a difficult weekend and the arrival of a TxTag toll bill in the mail didn’t make things any easier.

The bill stated her father, Kim Richardson, drove on SH 249 near Magnolia north of Houston and passed through two toll plazas. Suzanne said she did not drive her father’s truck on the toll road and tried to convince TxTag managers there had to be a mistake.

"I called them on Friday and told them that he had been dead since October 21. And the bills said that he was on the road in November," Carver said.

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It appears the person who purchased the truck never officially transferred the title or obtained new plates and registration, which Farrell noted, has since expired.

A memorial service for Kim Richardson was held on Saturday. While it was a somber goodbye for the family, it was not enough for TxTag to clear her father's bill.

A TxTag bill processor wanted her to produce a death certificate, Carver told FOX 7 Austin.

"And I got really, really upset and used some very choice words and told them what they could do and that they could keep sending him the bill, that they weren't going to get the money and why it was their mistake. Why should I have to prove to them that he was dead whenever they needed to prove to me that he drove on the road and I just got really, really upset, and I told them I was going to call 7 on Your Side. And so I did," said Carver.

Richardson's truck didn’t have a TxTag so the bill was produced based on the license plate readers at the toll plazas. A closer look at the bill reveals a big problem: the license plate number listed doesn't match the plate on Richardson’s truck.

"Well, when I saw the bill in his name, I knew that he hadn't had a truck in his name in a year. Then I knew it was a mistake," said Jenkins.

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For years, Central Texans have voiced complaints about the TxTag billing system. Ongoing concerns have ranged from customer service wait times to faulty bills.

FOX 7 Austin called TxDOT officials, who said the request for a death certificate was made because his family had claimed he was dead. Officials then admitted it wasn't necessary because the review of the license plate reader image was enough to determine a mistake had been made.

The clerical error was corrected when Carver called a little before noon on Monday.

"Well, it wasn't really about the money, but it was when I called them and told them, and they said I had to send them a death certificate. And it just made me really, really mad. And so that's why I called you guys. I thought, that's crazy. How many people are they doing that to," said Carver.

Suzanne and David offer this advice to anyone who gets a toll bill: "I think you should check the bill and call TxTag if you're not sure" said Jenkins.