C S writes: Our car bonnet was damaged by a falling tile from a neighbour’s roof this year. The neighbour admits the fact (it’s amicable between us). His household insurer says our motor insurer should meet the cost (about £1,000). We say his household insurer should pay — first, because he is to blame and second, because a claim will go on our claims record (and there is a £250 excess on our policy). Our motor insurer refuses to pursue his household insurer. Now for the twist: the two insurers are one and the same — More Than.

I hate to say it, but More Than’s decision is correct. The only clause under which your neighbour’s insurance would be liable is that of third-party liability, and for this, you would have to show he had been negligent in maintaining his roof. More Than has checked the weather for your area at the time, and it appears there were storm- force winds, so it believes this was the cause rather than any negligence on the part of your neighbour.

What rubs salt into your wounds is that More Than has agreed to cover the cost of repairing his roof, but in fact this all fits in. It could have refused to repair it if it felt the damage was caused by wear and tear; it is only because it accepts an external event (the wind) was responsible, that it agreed to cover his damage. By the same token, it refuses to cover the cost of yours. Unfair, maybe; but correct under the terms of the policy.

Lack of response no credit to NatWest

G G writes: Can you help me recover a small sum of £99.74 from NatWest Credit Card Services for my mother who is 91 and in care? I have been trying for seven months to get a response. The sum relates to a possible over- payment by my mother at a time of deteriorating mental capacity, which put her Mastercard balance in credit.

Your “temerity”, as you described it, in suggesting to the bank that it might feel moved to compensate your mother and you, was matched only by the clarity and courtesy of your letters to the bank. What a pity it still took the intervention of Question of Money to get you the money. You now have this, together with a modest £50 as a gesture of goodwill.

Double error on the cards

D S writes: I sent a cheque of £1,400 to Nationwide to pay my credit-card bill. The cheque was cashed a few days later but not credited to my account, so I incurred a charge of £12 for late payment plus interest. I have written and called twice in the past two months but not had any response.

A slip-up on both sides, here. You had put an old account number on the back of your cheque, and it was to this account (closed in 2006) that Nationwide tried to apply your money. The society has now found the cash, applied it to the correct account, and written off all the charges and interest. It has also apologised to you for the time it took to get to grips with this.

Isa applications just vanished

GV writes: My wife and I both subscribed to Isas with Barclays. Five months later the money is still sitting in our current account waiting to be invested.

The Isa department says it searched high and low but could find no record of your application, despite it being sent through one of the bank’s branches. If you haven’t given up entirely, you can re-apply now, and will get your interest backdated to the start of the tax year so you won’t lose out.

Teething troubles with dental cover

E H writes: I have been in telephone and written communication with Denplan and my dentist since June 2005. I entered into a dental policy with Denplan in March 1995. In June 2005 I telephoned the dentist for an appointment and was told my policy had been cancelled due to my non-attendance for half- yearly check-ups. I asked why it had continued to take my regular payments if the plan had been cancelled and asked for them to be refunded. It has refused.

I haven’t been able to get anywhere with this one. It appears you did attend for check-ups in 1995 and 1996. There is then a gap in the dentist’s records for three years, but it has proof that it asked you to go for check-ups twice in 2000, twice in 2001 and three times in 2002, to none of which you responded. One of the conditions of the policy is that patients have regular check-ups so any problems can be spotted and sorted before they get too bad (or expensive to rectify).

While I think you have accepted this, what happened next is a matter of dispute. According to Denplan’s records, the dental practice contacted the insurer in June 2005 to check whether your address had changed (which it had not). It then wrote you a letter stating that unless you got in touch within the next two months, it could cancel your plan. At this stage, according to them, you spoke first to the dental practice and then to Denplan, saying that you wanted to cancel the plan — whereas you believe it told you it was going to cancel anyway. Maybe there was some misunderstanding at this point, but this is what the records of both the insurer and dental practice say. I appreciate that you feel you have “wasted” your premiums, but the bottom line is that you would have been covered for almost all this time if you had fulfilled your end of the bargain — which you accept you did not.

Bond adventure went on and on

L T writes: I’m sure this is just one of hundreds of e-mails you receive from disgruntled customers of UK financial institutions. My problem concerns Nationwide: I decided in February to transfer my instant-access cash Isa, totalling some £30,000, to a two-year fixed-rate bond. I did not receive the correct bond until August — almost 24 weeks later. I won’t bother you with all the gory details but I had to make many phone calls and several visits to the branch. During this time I became ill and spent two months off work: I could have done without having to constantly chase up this matter. I’m not a money grabber. I’ve worked hard on a relatively low income to build up savings as I believe I have a responsibility to look after my own future. But there was not any suggestion from Nationwide of any compensation for all my wasted time, calls, visits and worry. I wasn’t expecting a fortune, just a gesture of goodwill. Was I wrong to expect this?

Nationwide got dreadfully behind with processing Isa transfers this summer; in the end, it had to stop accepting all Isa-transfer requests while it fought to clear the backlog. It is still not accepting transfers from new customers, though it says that the backlog is well on the way to being cleared. It accepts it made errors in processing your application and took too long resolving them, and has now sent you £150 compensation as well as a gift. You want to put a word in for Chloe, from your local Nationwide branch, who did her best to help you, spending long periods on the phone to the Isa centre in an attempt to get it sorted. What a pity her efforts were largely wasted by her own head office.