STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
NPOWER overcharged me when I sold my flat 15 months ago, but it will not refund the money. The Ombudsman Service said Npower should pay me £96.17 — but it hasn’t.
L. W., Wolverhampton. NPOWER tells me it sent the cheque to your neighbours in error. This doesn’t explain why it’s taken so long, but a spokesman apologises and says another cheque is in the post. MY HUSBAND has incurable cancer and is having palliative chemotherapy. He has insurance for terminal illness, but the firm says it can’t pay out as he is not covered for critical illness. What does this mean?
E.D., Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham. CRITICAL illness cover pays out when you are diagnosed with a serious condition. each policy has a list of conditions it will cover. If your diagnosis meets the definition, you can claim. Terminal illness cover, meanwhile, is part of a life insurance policy and will typically pay out only once you have less than 12 months to live.
Whether your spouse’s cancer can be cured isn’t relevant: it’s down to how long the doctors expect him to live. I’VE had a letter from a pension with a former employer offering a big boost to my payout today in return for giving up the future cost of living linked increases. Can you explain what this involves?
D. B., Leeds. Your pension scheme is offering Pension Increase exchange. This is offered by firms with final salary pensions in a bid to cut down the costs of the payouts promised to savers. Whether or not it’s a good deal depends on how long you think you’re likely to live and how much pension you’ll receive.
Before you decide, seek financial advice — see thisismoney.co.uk/find-an-adviser MY SON received a new iPhone 6 from Vodafone that we did not order. I told the courier to take it back. Since then, my son has received letters saying that he owes money for the phone. I’m scared debt collectors will appear on my doorstep. What should we do?
C. R., Dewsbury, West Yorks. IT SEEMS that your son opened the account without telling you. When you refused the delivery, the phone line was cancelled.
unfortunately, Vodafone says a few weeks’ worth of line rental stayed on the account. however, it has agreed to remove these charges and says that you will receive no more letters about it.