My ATM skimming fight

PH writes: My son has a bank account with Abbey. Recently, his card was skimmed and £200 removed from his account. We can prove he was out of the country at the time. We are also aware that other cards were skimmed while using the cash machine he used just before leaving. Abbey, however, has refused to refund the stolen money. Have we any recourse?

Your son was in Australia by the time the money was taken and while there, he had tried to take money out of a cash machine, only to find the card had been stopped. I think if you had pursued this with the bank, it would have relented.

It seems that Abbey’s initial reluctance was at least partly based on the fact that the disputed transaction happened some days after the card was last used in this country. This is extremely unusual in fraud cases, as fraudsters will generally use a stolen or skimmed card as soon as they possibly can, for as much as they possibly can, knowing that banks will soon catch up with it.

The bank says that based on the information it had originally been given, its decision was correct but as a gesture of goodwill, it is refunding the full sum.

Left in midair by Lloyds TSB card

PF writes: I replied to an invitation from Air Miles to take out a Duo card with Lloyds TSB. Since then I have become entitled to almost 2,000 air miles, but the bank keeps telling me that due to a glitch in its system it cannot transfer these to my account. How difficult can it be for Lloyds to transfer air miles awarded by the bank to an established air miles account that it runs?

The answer is, very difficult, by the sound of things. It’s all to do with “systems”, of course: the problem stems from the fact you had had an earlier Air Miles card that you had opened and then swiftly closed some 18 months earlier. I can’t quite see why this was the problem it appeared to be, and Lloyds has in fact promised me it should be resolved within the next seven working days. Meanwhile you have had £40 credited to your account as a goodwill gesture.

Saga story all in small print

AB writes: While staying in London and visiting a restaurant, my handbag was stolen. I have an annual travel insurance policy with Saga, so I submitted a claim for £314.48, but it refused to pay as I did not have “two or more nights’ stay in a row in pre-booked holiday accommodation”.

I am not certain if this is a new condition, but cannot anyway see that this has anything to do with insurance cover.

It may seem logical and correct that any and all losses suffered while travelling should be covered by a travel insurance policy, but this is not (and never has been) true. It may sound merely tautological, but with travel insurance — indeed, any insurance — you are covered only for what you are covered for; in other words, only for those risks that are detailed in the policy.

That is why it is so important for policyholders to check the terms of their policy before they travel.

In your case, the policy does clearly state certain conditions, including the one that you describe above, and the company is quite correct to turn you down.

Light finally shed on Npower bill

BM writes: My wife and I are in our mid-70s and are now being threatened by Npower, our former dual fuel supplier. We changed to Eon six weeks ago and received our final bills from Npower: the gas showed a balance of £0.00 while the electricity account was in credit. Four weeks later we received a final notice from Npower saying that a sum of £81 was now “very overdue” and threatening debt collectors and/or court action.

I wrote twice, asking how this sum had arisen, and explained that I was not refusing to pay debts, but wanted answers to my questions first. We are about to go on holiday, for six days, which we had been looking forward to, but it has been spoiled by this overhanging threat of court action.

You did owe this money, but only because your final direct debit for the gas bill had been returned to you by your bank. This could clearly have been explained earlier. Npower has now put a hold on your account to ensure you receive no more threatening letters, it is wiping out the full balance owing and, for good measure, giving you £50 as a goodwill gesture and an apology.

Barclays reserve put back in play

LG writes: My partner and I have a mortgage with the Woolwich. Its terms include a reserve facility of £2,000. As we recently closed our business, knowing that we had expenses to meet, I wrote a cheque for £2,000 payable to myself (using the cheque book supplied with this account) two months ago. It was returned with the note that the account was closed. I have since been trying to get the facility reinstated.

Barclays, which owns Woolwich, decided last year to review all the reserve limits that had either not been used or not used for a long time. It says it wrote to all affected customers at the time, explaining that if they did not reply, the Reserve would automatically be reduced to £100. You, however, are adamant you did not receive this letter and Barclays has decided that, as the amount concerned is relatively small, it will reinstate the Reserve in full.

As this works in tandem with the mortgage (and as you have paid off part of that already) your Reserve facility actually stands at £5,700. A previous letter from Barclays on the subject did not appear to apply to your situation and was, in any case, addressed to a Mr and Mrs C — albeit with your postal address. Barclays has apologised and sent you a couple of bottles of wine — your “favourite tipple” — and you are happy with the result.

Crossed wires at Vodafone

AF writes: I am having extreme difficulty with Vodafone in trying to get it to remove an incorrect payment default for £29 from my credit report. Clearing this is vital as my bank, HSBC, will not consider my mortgage application until it has confirmation from Vodafone that this default is incorrect.

The reason the default appeared in the first place was one of those long, convoluted stories involving misunderstandings, mistakes and false reassurances from Vodafone that it had all been sorted when it hadn’t.

It would have been, in all conscience, an extremely minor matter even if you had been at fault — which you were not.

HSBC says that it considers all mortgage applications on an individual basis and the presence of such a default, in itself, would not have been sufficient for it to turn you down — which is somewhat at variance with what you were told — but certainly it could not have helped.

Vodafone appeared to have lost my first communication to it regarding your case, which I was slow to spot. By the time I caught up with this and contacted it again, it said the matter had been dealt with some weeks previously and that you had been told your credit record was all clear.

Following my second contact, it called you, and as you had never received the letter, you were very relieved.

E-mail Diana Wright at questionofmoney@sunday-times.co.uk (no attachments please) or write to A Question of Money, The Sunday Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1ST, giving a daytime telephone number and full postal address. We cannot send personal replies or deal with every letter. Please do not send original documents or SAEs. Advice is offered without legal responsibility.