TUI turned down refund for holiday I cancelled to have a heart operation

MY HEART procedure was delayed several times. I was then called in when I was due to go on holiday with my wife, her sisters and their husbands for our 40th anniversary.

When I contacted Thomson/ TUI, I was told there was an exceptions process for such circumstances. I sent details of the appointment, successful operation and release date.

Eventually, I was informed my claim was rejected because I had not contacted the exceptions team prior to the departure date. I had, but they would not speak to me initially because I’d not booked the holiday.

I have asked them to reply on three occasions, but to no avail. C. B., Wiltshire. The letter from TUI implies that your claim wasn’t accepted under the special circumstances policy because you didn’t claim before the holiday. But you say you’d told them.

TUI has apologised. You have accepted a payment of £300, around a quarter of the cost of the holiday.

You told me that you don’t normally buy insurance until just before you travel. however, one vital element of insurance is cover if you are forced to cancel.

I’d always suggest people either keep an annual travel policy or buy insurance at the time they book a holiday.

This does not mean taking insurance from the travel agent, just buying it on the same day.

however, as you were expecting to have a heart operation, you would have had to declare this, so it is possible they would not have covered any postponement caused by this — or perhaps would have increased the premium to reflect the higher risk. WHEN I checked my credit card statement I noticed a payment for £7.99 to Amazon Prime. I’ve never asked for, wanted, nor will want an Amazon account. These payments started in September.

I later received an email for my granddaughter who does not live at this address. It seems possible that I am paying for her Amazon account. Mrs L. T., Hertfordshire. When I read your letter, I thought this was a case of someone accidentally signing up for Amazon Prime when making an order. Amazon was cagey, but did confirm it had sorted the issue; no further payments would be going out and you would be receiving a refund.

So what happened? Well, as you now know, it seems you allowed a young relative to use your credit card to buy something.

My guess is that they decided to sign you up to Amazon Prime for the free postage — a gesture with unintended consequences.

Amazon has confirmed that no one under 18 can have an account, which is why I assume you’d let your grandchild use your details. Your letter is a reminder how important it is to protect our credit card details, even when we are doting on young relatives.

Incidentally, the reason Amazon had not responded to your letter was that the person you wrote to, Mark hanson, does not work for Amazon. he is, in fact, an author who wrote a book called Chief executive Officer, available on Amazon. I suspect your search engine threw this up.

Amazon has an excellent 24hour-a-day free helpline on 0800 279 7234. I’ve used it and have never had cause to complain. I TRIED to open a savings bond at Kent Reliance on behalf of my father using my Enduring Power Of Attorney (POA). I sent off the form with a certified copy of the original POA and an accompanying letter.

The bank returned the copy, then phoned to say I couldn’t open an account because I needed to send the POA. I said I had already done this.

The bank asked for the original. It refused to accept the copy because it had been certified in 2008, saying it needed to have been done in the past year.

The cost of getting another certified copy was likely to be higher than the interest earned on the £4,000 investment.

I have used this document to open POA accounts with other building societies in the past year after my father moved into sheltered accommodation. L. W., Essex. I hAve a great deal of sympathy for you, having attempted to open savings accounts with an enduring Power Of Attorney for my late mother a few years ago. Some banks and building societies appear to put up hurdles deliberately, making it difficult to find the best interest rates for the person you are representing.

I suspect that whoever you spoke to at Kent Reliance was muddling a POA with identification verification documents, such as proof of address, which do need to be recent ones.

however, Kent Reliance argues that as the document was ten years old, it regarded it as ‘ prudent to request a more recently certified document’ to ensure the POA was still valid.

It says this was to protect against potential fraudulent activity and also factor in any changes to the customer’s circumstances. It says it would have been willing to backdate the application but, as you point out, getting another certified copy would have cost more than the interest you might have earned.

As to the suggestion that you should have sent the original — well, given the costs involved if this had been lost, I don’t think that is sensible. Kent Reliance did send you £50 in compensation but I don’t think it comes out of this affair at all well.