Your problems: An open and shut problem with my bank account

[Legal Beagles]

Your problems: Alliance & Leicester's freeze policy is aimed at beating money-laundering, but telling an innocent customer the local branch could sort it out ended up being a wild goose chase

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[Amethyst]

Re: Your problems: An open and shut problem with my bank account

Alliance & Leicester has suspended my bank account because I had not used it much. I only realised this when a cheque bounced, with some embarrassment to myself. I have had this account for 40 years and it is the only account number I can remember. I used it continuously for my salary before taking early retirement and I now wish to have my forthcoming pension paid into it. I wrote to the bank in February, but in April it was still saying it was not in a position to respond.
MW
Chichester
Alliance & Leicester freezes accounts that have not been used for nine months and makes them dormant if there is no response from customers after another three. This is its standard anti-money laundering practice. So it is inexplicable why the bank should have repeatedly told you that your problem was taking longer than expected to investigate. It is not as though it was trying to reach the solution you wanted.
A&L now acknowledges this point, but is still confused. When you phoned in February, customer services told you to take two forms of ID to your local branch with your earlier letter confirming that you wanted the account kept open. They told me you might have been able to reactivate the account at that point but had no record of your visiting the branch as requested.
Something is wrong with A&L's records. Not only did you visit the branch on the same day as you telephoned, while you were there the branch staff drafted a letter for you to send to head office confirming that you wanted the account kept open. You also assume the branch's CCTV camera recorded your visit.
A&L has now changed its advice. You should not have been told in February to visit the branch because it was in fact already too late to reactivate your account. The bank cannot even resuscitate your old account number for a replacement current account. It is sending you £100 to compensate for sending you on a wild goose chase.
Redemptions overload beat the refund deadline

We redeemed our Portman mortgage on 1 May when the building society merged with Nationwide. We could not cancel the direct debit until the repayment had gone through, so overpaid by £342. The redemption statement said this would be refunded within 14 working days from the payment date. I was told to go to my local branch to request the refund, but the branch knew nothing of this procedure. We are still waiting for the money.
KT
Sheffield
Nationwide says the reason for the delay, which it admits is not an excuse, was a rush of redemptions. Following the merger, 20 per cent of Portman borrowers redeemed their home loans and the rest transferred to Nationwide. Nationwide under-estimated how many employees it might need to handle the extra work. To apologise, it has sent you £100 and a gift hamper.
NatWest interest charges are in the small print

NatWest sent me several cheques for my credit card. It was a special offer where the value of any credit used would be interest-free until October 2008. I wrote a cheque for £5,000 to pay for building work. I continued to use my credit card and ensured I kept a balance of £5,000. I was disappointed to discover that the £5,000 was not ring-fenced, so all my monthly payments were reducing the level of interest-free credit. I am paying about £50 a month interest on the £5,000. I consider myself financially aware and believe I was misled.
CE
Brighton
NatWest wants me to make clear that you used a balance transfer cheque and not a convenience cheque. It no longer sends out convenience cheques, which often dragged customers unwittingly into expensive interest charges. The bank assumes customers understand that convenience cheques could be used to pay for goods or services but balance transfer cheques can be used only to move credit-card debt from one provider to another and that NatWest uses them as a marketing tool.
But the repayment structure is the same for both types of cheque. Each monthly payment you make is put towards reducing the special-offer credit, in your case the balance transfer, before paying for the new purchases on your card. While you believed you were repaying the cost of new purchases in full, you have in fact been charged interest on them.
You will not be surprised to hear that this is well covered in the small print.
The Barclays Isa that never was

My husband and I both put £3,000 into Barclays 'tax haven' Isas at the end of March. Three weeks later, I received two welcome packs for two Isas both in my name for the same tax year. My husband received nothing, but the bank assured us that my husband's Isa would be processed. HMRC has now told me I cannot subscribe to more than one Isa a year, which I knew. My husband is still waiting to hear from the bank.
JH
Sandbach, Cheshire
Every bank employee must know that investors have only one Isa allowance a year. As a failsafe, the bank's computer programme should prevent duplications. But nothing stopped Barclays' staff from opening two Isas in your name and no one noticed the error. That does not cause you a problem but is catastrophic for your husband. It is now too late for him to open a 2007/08 Isa.
Barclays is offering him £220 compensation which is £195 for the interest he would have received in the first year and £25 for inconvenience. If he still wants to open a 2008/09 Isa, the bank will backdate interest to 6 April. It is sending you a hamper to apologise.
· 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.