Trouble in Vegas - but who pays out?

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, my husband and I had a short break in Las Vegas last October. Soon after arriving, I developed a respiratory tract infection. The medical centre prescribed antibiotics and gave me a bill for $111, which I paid in cash. My travel insurance with NatWest paid up.

Nine months later, I received another bill from the hospital, showing $74.40 still to pay and saying I had 10 days to reply. I have twice written saying it is unreasonable to increase the charge nine months later but have had no response. If I don't pay, I am concerned that I may have problems if we want to go to the US again. Also, if I had paid by credit card, would they just have helped themselves to the money?
MU, Sheffield

NatWest says this is not an abnormal occurrence and nothing to worry about. Send the latest bill to NatWest, explaining why you are claiming so late. It sees no reason why this, too, should not be met by the travel policy.

Delay reaction


In August, I bought shares in two different companies through Barclays Stockbrokers, but because a delay in processing my cheque meant it did not clear by the settlement date, I was fined £30 for each transaction. I then sold some shares through Barclays but, when I went to the branch to collect the money on settlement day, it was not available. I was told I had to wait for a cheque from the broker which would take at least seven days. Can I, as Barclays Stockbrokers did, impose a fine for the delay?
BS, Bristol

That sems fair enough. Barclays Stockbrokers has found that it should not have told you to send a cheque when you bought the shares because it couldn't cash it. The broker is cancelling the £60 fine and sending you £20 compensation for inaccurate information.

Cheque, mate?


I got quotes for car insurance just before my policy expired in August. Norwich Union quoted much the same as my previous insurer but with a slightly better package and £20 cash back, which swung things in its favour. To date no cash has arrived, despite several phone calls, during each of which I was assured payment would arrive within 28 days.
EK, Sidmouth

A combination of human error and administration problems caused the delay. NU has investigated the errors and put systems in place to make sure it does not happen again. It apologises for the unacceptable delay and poor level of service and has now raised the cheque, which should arrive within 10 working days.

£300,000 question


We recently remortgaged our house for £205,000, interest only. As neither of us will have much pension, we also bought a flat with a £100,000 mortgage, which we will rent out after I have finished using it as a base when working in London. The £305,000 is due to be repaid in 11 years' time, when I'll be 70. How can I invest to produce this sum?

AF, Sudbury

You need a safe investment to be certain of having enough to repay the mortgages, which means deposit accounts. Riskier stock market-related investments might be more profitable, but could as easily lose you money. If you did not have enough to repay the loans on redemption day, you might be able to renegotiate with the lender, but this is unlikely as you will by then be living on small pensions, albeit with some rental income.To have £300,000 in a savings account in 11 years' time, as a higher-rate taxpayer and assuming a constant 5 per cent gross interest rate, the Halifax has calculated that you need to open it with a lump sum of £220,338.50. If you had that amount of money, you wouldn't have this problem, so you will be saving regular amounts. You need to put aside £1,952.61 a month, which will give you a small surplus - £304,999.77. If you rule out robbing a bank, you might have to sell the flat and forgo the rental income to help pay your debts.

Email 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.