Building society mistake adds years to mortgage

I have always paid at least the minimum required on my Woolwich repayment mortgage to ensure that the term is not exceeded. The original term is due to end in 16 years and nine months, but my annual statement shows that my mortgage will not be paid off for another 23 years and three months. I would have to pay an extra £69 a month to repay the loan in the original term.

I was stunned by this. I have telephoned and, apart from one letter of acknowledgement, am no further forward than I was in January.

Please help. I am at my wits' end with worry over this.
MB, Ringwood


Woolwich has finally realised that it made an error when calculating last year's repayments. At the time, the bank asked you to pay £63.40 less than it should have done, which extended the term of your mortgage.

When banks make this mistake, they pay compensation for the extra cost of repaying the loan within the original timescale and for inconvenience to you according to a formula based on the Banking Ombudsman's guidelines.

The upshot is you would have to pay an extra £390 to pay off the mortgage within the original time.

Because of the problems you have had getting a response, the Woolwich has increased the compensation to £650, which it is deducting from the capital you owe.

Hole in the wall: Glitch in cyberia

My husband died in January and the Alliance & Leicester said it would change our joint account to my name only. I could continue using my debit card but should destroy my husband's.

In March, I tried to withdraw money from my village cash machine but access was denied. The bank said my account had been accidentally closed down but all was now fine. And it was - until June, when I tried to use my card in my village supermarket and access was again denied. I teach in the local school and some of the parents work in the shop. It was full of customers who knew me.

You can imagine my distress and embarrassment. In my current account at the time, there was about £6,000 and my bill was for just over £10.
VH, Reading

Alliance & Leicester admits to making mistakes. You should have been able to use your old card until the bank issued a new one. This process started but the computer did not complete the changeover or send a new card by the time your old one became outdated.

You had been able to use it without difficulty elsewhere because your other purchases were below the shops' floor limits - the amounts above which authorisation must be sought - so they did not need authorisation. Your village shop must have had a nil floor limit for your £10 purchase to cause a problem.

It was unfortunate that you were told you could continue using your card after the first hiccup because that just extended the problem. Alliance & Leicester is sending you £50 as a goodwill gesture.

Cover quibble: Cat's breakfast

I had two cats who are covered by Royal & SunAlliance on an extension to my home insurance policy. Last September one of them, Tigger, had to be put to sleep.

Royal & SunAlliance met the claim promptly and I assumed it would adjust my premium. In March I noticed that I was still paying for both felines, so I notified the insurer.

Going through my bank statements in June, I could not see any refund, so I wrote again. Royal & SunAlliance said that I did not inform them about the death until March and then the refund of £12.66 was divided into three installments. I have never seen such a tortuous way of providing a small refund.
DTS, Norwich

Royal & SunAlliance says it collects the premiums for your house insurance in monthly installments. It gives refunds the same way by the administratively easy route of taking less under your direct debits.

As there were three months left on this year's policy, the six months' refund was paid back over April, May and June.

From March, the premiums were reduced as, Royal & SunAlliance admits, they should have been last September.

Pibs: Where do I find them?

I have permanent interest-bearing shares (Pibs) in Coventry, Leeds & Holbeck and the Birmingham Midshires (now Halifax). Despite searching diligently through the Financial Times , I have been unable to find any reference to their present values. Can you tell me when they appear? Do I have to go through a stockbroker to sell the shares?
WF, Worcester

Look in the Money supplement of the Saturday Financial Times . In the section headed Databank, under a dripping tap logo, you will see Pibs and perpetual subordinated bonds, which is what Pibs become when building societies demutualise.

Birmingham Midshires' Pibs are now one of the four Halifax perpetual subordinated bonds, the one showing a coupon of 9.37 per cent.

The Halifax has its own share-dealing service, but does not deal in Pibs or perpetual subordinated bonds. To sell, you need a more traditional stockbroker.

Family bonds: Unhappy returns

I have a number of 10-year family bonds with Family Assurance Friendly Society that are approaching maturity. Given the spectacular performance of the market over the last decade, these bonds have performed poorly.

Is there any possibility of friendly societies demutualising with the potential for windfalls?

If so, I would not cash them in on their tenth anniversary.
WMcG, Belfast

Nothing can prevent friendly societies from demutualising if the members vote for it.

They would no longer be friendly societies but convert into ordinary insurance companies and lose the right to sell tax-free savings products. There is no suggestion that this might happen at Family Assurance.

Friendly society policies are comparatively expensive because they deal only in small amounts of money. Family says that 10-year policies maturing this month are paying £1,661, a return of 8.22 per cent a year tax-free.

Remember that only the first £9 has been invested for the full 10 years; the final contribution is invested for just one month before being repaid. If you had put £1,080 as a lump sum 10 years ago at 8.22 per cent it would now be worth £2,380.

• Write to Margaret Dibben, Money Writes, The Observer, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER 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.