PAYDAY loan bosses have pledged a major review of how they handle the accounts of deceased customers after a Hampshire grandad was relentlessly pursued for thousands of pounds of cash after his death.

As exclusively reported by the Daily Echo on Monday, Ian Jordan racked up more than £20,000 worth of debt to over a dozen firms over the course of a year before killing himself.

But his family later discovered more than 1,000 text messages on his phone from payday loan firms and were forced to remove the SIM card to prevent them coming.

Now one of the companies pursuing him, PayDay Express, has promised to overhaul how it handles dead customers’ arrears in the wake of the tragedy.

They admitted the family had alerted them of his death but the company had failed to receive vital documents verifying it.

The new move comes after Mr Jordan’s family demanded authorities do more to halt the number of cash-strapped people failing into the debt trap following his inquest.

Southampton Coroner's Court heard how the body of Mr Jordan, 60, was found at his home in Tickner Close, Botley, last November, a week after he was seen by anyone. He had taken an overdose.

In one case the grandad – who had not worked for years due to poor health – was being charged more than 5,000 per cent per year interest for the cash he had borrowed.

After the inquest his daughter Samantha Carr told how the firms were still sending her father text messages concerning his debt after he died.

She said: “They all tried to bully him into paying. Not one of them said sorry.”

A spokesman for PayDay Express told the Daily Echo that Mr Jordan had taken out two loans of “some hundred pounds”.

They said: “His unfortunate death was reported to the company in November and, as is standard practice, a death certificate was requested, receipt of which would have meant the closing of his account.

“That certificate was never received nor did anyone make further contact with us with either further information or complaint.

“However, we will examine our practices to see how such circumstances are best verified without further upsetting next of kin and extend our condolences and apologies to his family.”

Pay day loan firm Peachy refused to confirm or deny that Mr Jordan was a customer.

But a spokeswoman said that debts were normally written off when families provide proof of death.

She said: “These sad circumstances highlight the need for payday loan companies to share data to ensure that individuals don’t fall into debt.”