Barclays hounds victim

KW writes: I was subject to a fraud involving a large sum of money in March 2006, carried out by my then partner who was intercepting my post and accessing my credit cards and bank accounts without my knowledge.

The situation was so severe that I almost lost my home. Once I realised what was happening, I reported the matter to the police, who have been investigating since then. The man who committed this fraud is currently in prison for a similar crime against another woman. My case will be presented to the Crown Prosecution Service once the investigation is complete.

Since the start of 2008, I have been dealing with the various financial institutions and it has taken 18 months to get back my money from HSBC and NatWest. MBNA and Egg are taking no further action against me.

The problem I have is with Barclaycard. I contacted it in writing and by phone at the same time as the others but to date have had no reply. It just sold on the debt to a collection agency. When I explained the situation, it sent it back to Barclaycard, which then simply sold it on to another agency.

I am so sorry; so, if belatedly, is Barclaycard. It accepts it should never have chased you like this and should have responded much sooner. It has been agreed that you will not have to pay for these items and Barclaycard has confirmed that your credit record has not been affected by this. The company is sending you £150 as an apology.

Swiftcover dent in credit rating

BB writes: I was involved in a traffic accident eight months ago that was finally settled by the two insurance companies. However, while all this was going on, I received some court papers via the other party’s solicitor informing me he had gone to court and made a claim against me for the cost of the repairs and a hire car. I passed these papers to my insurers, Swiftcover, and heard no more.

I am now in the process of separating from my husband and moving into rented accommodation. The estate agents ran a credit check and I found out I have a county court judgment (CCJ) against my name due to this accident. After 30 years of never missing any mortgage or loan payments, never being late with credit card payments, I am shocked and distressed by this. Can you advise me?

The notification of the CCJ has now been removed from your credit record. What happened was that the case had gone to court, as you did not believe you were responsible for the accident, and neither did the other party, or its insurers. Swiftcover eventually agreed to pay the full costs of the other party’s claim as it did not believe it had sufficient evidence to fight the case. However, the court failed to note on its records that payment had been made within the appropriate time and so the CCJ was recorded against you. Swiftcover has apologised to you.

Hot under the collar at Hydro

EO writes: I was sold a central heating protection system by Scottish Hydro Electric, which supplies me with both gas and electricity. The deal included a £50 gift, to be taken off my next bill. I eventually received £25 and after complaining, a further £10 as a gesture of goodwill. But although I have it in writing that I was due £50, I have heard nothing since.

I am sure you would be the first to agree that problems like yours are no more than pin-pricks compared with situations such as the one above. But you are “fed up to the back teeth” with these people for their cavalier behaviour and I was likewise thoroughly irritated that the company simply had not done what it had promised. Why, I do not know; but it has now credited you with the extra £25, plus an additional £15 as an apology.

A&L inefficiency clearly identified

BO writes: I opened an Online Saver 4.0 with Alliance & Leicester three months ago. It asked for proof of ID and I sent my driver’s licence and a utility bill. The bank responded that it could not accept the licence as it was not a UK one.

I am an Irish citizen resident in the UK and do not have a UK driver’s licence or passport. Eventually, I was called by the bank’s complaints department to say I did not have to provide any ID after all as I already had an account with the bank. I was promised the account would now be opened, interest backdated and £25 in compensation. Three weeks later I still have no account, no £25 and no interest.

The account has now been opened and you have £50 credited to your current account as an apology for the delay. Thanks to the time lapse you now have Online Saver 5.0 opened for you — a better deal as this pays 3.15% rather than the 2.5% paid by the previous version. However, you don’t have the backdated interest for the simple reason that there is nothing on which to pay it. You were given 30 days to make your first deposit and at that stage, if you decide to go ahead, the interest will be added.

Heartbreaking ruling at Axa PPP

JH writes: My wife Pat has been fighting brain cancer since October 2007. She has been through hell and back with an operation to remove as much of the tumour as possible, radiotherapy and chemotherapy (which had to be stopped as she became allergic to it).

I was made redundant at the start of this year but converted the private medical insurance I had under my company’s scheme with Axa PPP to an individual one for Pat (costing more than twice as much).

After a period in remission, the cancer has returned aggressively and her oncologist has said that the only thing that could perhaps help Pat is a drug called Avastin, which is licensed in the United States and is used extensively for cancer treatment there.

Axa has refused to fund it based on the fact it has not been approved. I feel the insurer is being ruthless.

What a heart-breaking situation and one that I fear is being repeated for many other holders of private medical insurance policies. Axa PPP says that the policy would have paid for chemotherapy where the drug has been licensed for use by the European Medicines Agency or by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and is used within the terms of that licence. But Avastin is not licensed for treatment of her condition and it is sticking to the terms of the policy, and refusing to cover the cost of the drug.

I suspect Axa PPP is not alone in being “ruthless” in such cases. As the cost of long-term treatment for cancer soars and as more and more (expensive) drugs are trialled, insurers are increasingly getting requests from oncologists to use drugs that are still in the experimental stage for certain conditions and, depending on the terms of the policy, may well turn them down.

For instance, Bupa said: “We consider such things on a case-by-case basis to be sure a drug is likely to be both safe and effective; we have a robust process for looking at such cases to be sure that we are treating all our policyholders fairly.”

This, however, is no longer of the remotest interest to you as, sadly, your wife Pat died a few weeks ago.

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