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My handbag was snatched while we were on holiday in France. We claimed on our Sainsbury Bank travel insurance policy but Sainsbury says that, although the handbag and purse were covered, the contents other than money were not and we couldn't claim for passports, spectacles, sunglasses, pen and keys. The cash was joint money of €200 and £50 but Sainsbury assigned the euros to me and the sterling to my husband, incurring the £35 excess charge twice. We received only £239.72.
HW, Ipswich
An administrative mistake, says Sainsbury. You should have been paid the cost of replacing the keys, although for passports the policy covers only the cost of accommodation and travel incurred in replacing them. Spectacles are excluded, which is common with travel policies. As you claimed jointly, Sainsbury believes it rightly imposed two excesses. Now the bank says that it likes to consider each case individually, although this would not be the impres sion you get from the 'full and final settlement of your claim' stated when sending the cheque for £239.72.
Because of its mistakes, Sainsbury will now send you £486, which includes the cost of passports and, as a gesture, specs, and it is waiving both excesses.
Can expat get hands on pension?
Six years ago, my son went to Australia for a
holiday and never came back. He now has
Australian residency, a family and intends to
remain there. In the UK, he had built up ?20,000 in
the Teachers' Pension Scheme. He needs money
to get on to the property ladder and has been told
that he can 'in exceptional circumstances' access
his pension fund. Can he do this?
BS, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
No. The Teachers' Pension Scheme says it doesn't
know of an exceptional circumstances rule. You can
cash in a pension fund only if you have contributed for
less than two years. His options are to leave the
money where it is until he retires or transfer it to an
Australian pension scheme.
Abbey muddles 89 - year - old's tax
When my father, 89, was diagnosed as having Alzheimer's, his finances were in disarray with unpaid bills and an outstanding summons. I approached the Court of Protection and was appointed receiver to act on his behalf. I cleared his bills and had £8,000 left to invest. In September 2002, I placed £3,000 in a Safeway/Abbey one-year fixed-rate bond. I posted the court order by special delivery with form R85 to ensure my father received interest gross. In April, I received a tax deduction certificate showing tax had been deducted.
In mid July, Abbey said an apology was on the way with £30 to cover my expenses, claiming it had not seen my court of protection authority. I pointed out that I had sent an original copy the previous September which had been returned and another in July which had not.
The bond has now matured but I am still waiting to have the tax refunded, my court order returned, the promised apology and the cheque.
CC, Leigh-on-Sea
Our mistake, admits the Abbey. The bank wrongly set up a joint account so deducted tax because you are a taxpayer. It does not know what happened to the promised £30. Abbey has now added the correct interest plus £20 to your father's account and is sending you £100 compensation, which I understand you are donating to his nursing home's Christmas party.
Lloyds' plodding reply to scam
On 14 October, I had a phone call, supposedly from LloydsTSB, asking for details of my credit card, which I quickly foiled. The caller was not too clever because the number appeared on my caller display. I immediately emailed the bank and sent the telephone details. The bank took until 27 October to confirm this was not a genuine LloydsTSB call and told me to contact the police. I am sure whoever's number it was has long gone.
DH, Bury St Edmunds
Indeed they have. When I tried the number it was 'temporarily out of order'. LloydsTSB says it did investigate your experience immediately and realised it was a fraud but failed to tell you what was going on, which it now accepts was poor customer relations.
This is different from the recent email scam which tricked customers into divulging their bank security details. LloydsTSB hasn't heard that any other customers have received dodgy phone calls. If any readers have, let me know.
Childless - so how do we avoid IHT?
There is no shortage of advice on avoiding inheritance tax when you have children but there is a dearth of help for those like myself who do not. Our house is worth £250,000 with no mortgage and we have the same amount in savings. We retire in two years and anticipate a big spend followed by downsizing and living on our occupational pensions.
We plan to make wills leaving whatever remains to charities, as charitable donations are exempt from inheritance tax. If our estates are over the inheritance tax threshold, can we leave the global sum, apportioned between the chari ties by a formula, knowing that there will be no inheritance tax problems? Or can we leave the amount above the inheritance tax threshold, as obviously we do not know what that will be, to charities and an amount up to the threshold to our remaining relatives?
AJ, Stanmore
Without children, you cannot easily use both your nil-tax bands on the house unless you trust your relatives not to throw out the survivor when the first of you dies. But you can dictate whatever you want in a will..
The surviving spouse can inherit everything, free of inheritance tax and capital gains tax. Then you can leave your total estate to charity, divided however you wish. Or you can give the whole tax-free limit to named relatives, adding any not yet born if you wish. Do not specify an amount of money but make clear that in total they are to receive no more than the maximum amount allowed without attracting tax, with the excess going to charity.
· Email Margaret Dibben at money.writes@observer.co.uk or write to 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.
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