STRAIGHT TO THE POINT

A WEEK before my 80th birthday, I received a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions saying my State Pension will increase by 25p a week. What is this? P. C., London. ThIS is known as ‘age addition’ and is paid when someone turns 80. You have to have reached State Pension age before April 6 to get it. when the payment was introduced in 1971, the State Pension was only £6 a week, compared with more than £125 now, so it was a more meaningful sum. MY NATIONWIDE two-year fixed Isa pays 0.75 pc. But I opened the account a year ago and saw the rate had increased to 1.35 pc. Will I be paid this on my savings? L. C., Essex. wITh fixed-rate bonds and Isas you lock in to a deal until the account matures. So no, you will not see your return boosted. This applies only to new customers. MY CREDIT card expired at the end of April and its replacement never arrived. I called Tesco Bank and it said it would send another. This didn’t arrive either, so I called and checked it had my correct address. It sent a third, which also never arrived — yet I still receive statements. T. B., London. IT SeemS Tesco Bank has had two addresses on file since you moved a few years ago. The card was sent to your old address and statements to the new one. Tesco has apologised, changed its records and sent another card. MY WIFE and I spent around £10,000 on a 35-night P&O cruise to America. It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, but it was impossible to get into the entertainment areas because the ship was overcrowded, the lifts were out of action and the power to our cabin failed six times. It’s not a luxury we’ll ever be able to afford again as we paid using the maturity of a small bond. M. C., West Somerset. P&O CRUISeS admits that entertainment venues on the ship tend to be overcrowded and apologises that this negatively affected your experience. It says the lifts have been fixed, but it appreciates your feedback and has offered you £650 as a goodwill gesture.