Your problems

2011-08-08 09:00:25 | Source

During A six-day Royal British Legion pilgrimage to Bavaria, I twisted my knee. The nurse called a German doctor, who prescribed painkillers and gave me a bill for ¬ 134.73 (about £94). I tried to claim for this treatment through the European Health Insurance Card, formerly the E111, but the Pension Service, which administers these claims, said that in view of the delay, it assumed a refund was not going to be made.

The Pension Service acts as agent for claims and the German authorities decide whether to pay. You were denied a refund because you were treated privately. Germany has several hundred large and small health insurances, only some of which are publicly owned. Another time, look for the sign 'Kassenärzte', which indicates doctors who work for public health insurers; or 'Alle Kassen', which means they co-operate with the publicly owned insurers. You should still be able to claim on your travel insurance policy.
Harley Street clinic failed to deliver

Our son has a broken nose from a childhood accident. He was teased at school, so we decided on a cosmetic correction with the Harley Medical Group (HMG). We paid a £900 deposit for rhinoplasty. The first appointment, in May, was cancelled after we arrived in London and the second was inconclusive because HMG had not asked for the records of his previous NHS operations. Our son has now started at university, so has missed the opportunity for an operation at present. But HMG has not replied to our phone message, email or letter, so we still don't know if the operation is possible or if we can get our deposit back.
IN, Marlborough

My inquiry to HMG prompted someone to make contact and claim that it had emailed you in July to fix an appointment. You did not receive that email. Eventually, HMG put an offer in writing to perform the operation or refund your money. You chose a refund and, six weeks later, received a cheque for £900.

Granny's bequest was just too adventurous

In 1999, my mother-in-law left £1,000 to each of our three children for when they reached 18. An Allied Dunbar representative suggested that we buy single-life investment plans with the Allied Dunbar Life Managed Fund. With our eldest daughter approaching 18, we asked for a valuation. Her £1,000 is now worth only £977.
JT, Horsham

Money invested to comply with the terms of a will should be treated carefully, unless the will stipulates otherwise. This money went into Allied Dunbar's Adventurous Managed Growth Fund, an odd choice. The company justifies this because your file notes show that you wanted an adventurous investment. The documentation included the warning that the value of your investment could fall, but the adviser did not point out that you could end up with less than £1,000, which is what the trustees must now hand over. Nor do I understand why your children needed life insurance. Zurich, which now owns Allied Dunbar, stands by the advice, so I suggest you take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (call 0845 080 1800). There is some good news, though. Your daughter's investment has risen to £1,037, a 6.25 per cent increase since the June 2006 valuation.

Bitten by a broadband bully

I cancelled the Bulldog broadband account for my student house in June, but Bulldog continued to take £45 for two months and £40 for line rental, instead of £17.50. The final bill included five previous months' payments, as Bulldog had not set up the direct debit correctly. I was told no one had authority to refund money.
HW, Manchester

There was no explanation from Bulldog about what went wrong, but it quickly refunded £62.50. I reckon you should have received £67.50 but Bulldog's trail has gone cold.

Windpower paperwork ran out of puff

In July, I bought shares in Clipper Windpower through Barclays Stockbrokers' telephone share-dealing service. In August, I was told I would receive the share certificates within four weeks. Nothing has arrived.
TA, Bournemouth

Clipper Windpower is a residual stock, which means deals cannot be settled through Crest, the automated system. Instead they follow a manual process which takes up to three months. Despite the delays, you are entitled to any dividends because you have been the beneficial owner since purchase. Barclays accepts that it should have explained this more carefully and has sent a food and wine hamper as a goodwill gesture. I understand that the share certificates have now turned up.

· Email Margaret Dibben at money.writes@observer.co.uk or write to Margaret Dibben, Money Writes, The Observer, 3-7 Herbal Hill, London EC1R 5EJ, and include a telephone number. Do not enclose SAEs or original documents. Letters are selected for publication and we cannot give personal replies. The newspaper accepts no legal responsibility for advice.

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