T J writes: Our neighbour, driving at breakneck speed, accidentally smashed over our antique pig trough and some antique roof stone slates when she was under great stress during the sudden illness of her husband, who has since died. Her car was subsequently written off. She was given a hire car until she could buy a replacement, which she did before Christmas. Her claim is now completed. Ours, meanwhile, is stuck with our insurers, Saga.

Your claim was relatively modest. You suggested £50 for the three stone slates that were smashed, which was agreed. The trough, salvaged from the 500-year-old farm buildings when they were converted into dwellings some years ago, was harder to value.

Saga – I cannot resist this – made a pig’s ear of your claim, managing to lose your original letter, and not responding to your chasing fax and phone calls. However, all is now resolved, with you and the insurers agreeing on a total value of £800, which you have now received.

No accounting for transfer issues

CP writes: My husband and I each applied, online, for a one-year fixed-rate bond with ICICI Bank paying 6.85% in November. The bank signed us up instead to its variable rate Hi-Save account. Despite many letters and calls, we cannot get the matter corrected. Should we now make a formal complaint, or is there some other route?

This was a mix-up. ICICI requires customers to open a Hi-Save account initially, which has a minimum deposit of £1. Thereafter, money can be transferred into other products, such as the fixed-rate bond, which ICICI says can take place within 48 hours of opening the first account. You had been dismayed on receiving notification that Hi-Save accounts were about to be opened for you both, and at this stage had contacted the bank to ask for a correction. Because the account-opening process had not been completed, the bank was unable to locate you, which, it says, explains why you were unable to get a satisfactory response. It could, as you pointed out, simply have called you, in which case it would all have been sorted a lot sooner.

However, the bank has now been in touch with you, explained what happened and has agreed to open your fixed-rate bonds as from the day you tried to invest.

Leaking pipe was water torture

GG writes: Can you help with our problem with South East Water? The company has been charging us astronomical amounts for water, which it transpires was a result of a leak in a pipe. We are in our eighties and and I cannot cope with the continued harassment from South East Water. Our water bill should be roughly £65 every six months and the company is trying to charge me £364 for the same period.

This problem had been going on for about a year before you contacted me. Various people came to inspect the leak, various promises were made, but nothing was resolved. South East Water has now offered a “full” apology, and says that in fact you only owe £43.79. It is writing this sum off in recognition of the inconvenience you have suffered.

Abbey dithered in debit card mix-up

DM writes: Recently my wife’s debit card was refused. We have a joint bank account with Abbey, which is in good order. On investigation we learnt that my wife had been removed from our joint account. No authorisation had been given; no explanation for why it happened has been forthcoming. We are told it will take up to eight weeks to correct.

I’m not an expert on Abbey’s systems, but with the best will in the world it’s hard to imagine why it should take more than 10 minutes (rather than eight weeks) to rectify this. Nor am I sure that my involvement materially helped. Despite chasing the bank on a regular basis, I only had confirmation that your wife had been added back to the joint account exactly eight weeks after your complaint had been logged. You have accepted £140 as a goodwill gesture.

BT drove me off the line

NF writes: BT owes me £32.98 because it debited this sum twice, by mistake, for line rental.

You had made 10 phone calls to BT over seven months, and in return got 10 promises the money would be refunded. I fared a great deal better, only having to make three phone calls on your behalf. You do now have the refund – £36.96 – but I am not surprised to hear that, after 40 years as a BT customer, you have switched provider.

Too trigger happy with web payment

DA writes: I made an internet payment by mistake to “Scot Gas Electric”, which is apparently part of British Gas, when I should have paid Scottish Power which merged with Manweb in 1995. I paid a total of £826.21 on December 27 and January 8 and have since been through every hoop I know to get my money back. In the meantime I have paid Scottish Power/Manweb, which was threatening me with bailiffs.

You were too trigger happy with the drop-down section of a website, and my goodness, you have suffered for it since. You made at least five phone calls, each time laboriously explaining that no, you were not a British Gas customer. Several times, you were told you would have to wait 60 days for a refund – in each case to start running from the time of that particular call. You “slipped through the net” says British Gas in apologising, and now have your money back.

MS, meanwhile, had been fighting for more than a year to get British Gas to read his electricity meter. His own readings, which he phoned in on several occasions, were apparently ignored. He wished to switch suppliers, but refused to pay British Gas’s estimated bills which he was sure were inaccurate. The company says it had set him up wrongly as an Economy 7 user when he switched to British Gas from his previous supplier. All has now been resolved and MS has some (modest) compensation to cover the cost of his phone calls.

Finally, PJ wants to stay with British Gas, but it keeps writing to him saying it is sorry to be losing him as a customer. This stemmed from a neighbour with a similar address who wanted to switch to Powergen – and Powergen kept trying to switch Mr J’s supplies instead. This, too, has been resolved.

Complaints about energy suppliers are a constant feature of the Question of Money mailbag, and I cannot take up every one of your letters. You can enlist the help of Energywatch, the independent gas and electricity watchdog, whose job is to offer free and impartial advice to consumers and to take up complaints with suppliers on their behalf. Its helpline number is 08459 060708, or see the website, energywatch.org.uk.

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. We cannot send personal replies or deal with every letter. Please do not send original documents or SAEs. Advice is offered without legal responsibility

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