It has only been 18 days (not counting Sundays) since I sent off my D.P.A. request to the A&L, but as I had not heard anything from them and had no nails left, I decided to give their customer centre a call. Having heard of the way some people had been dealt with by the A&L, (me included in my past dealings with them), I was prepared for the worst. It never happened. I was spoken to politely; I made my enquiry, and was given a polite answer in return, 40 working days from receipt of request etc. Then I thought that I would really push the boat out and ask if my request had been received etc. Asked for my account number(s)! I was asked to wait (not long), while it was being checked. Returning shortly,an apology was given for keeping me waiting and I was told that the department that deals with these requests had received mine on the 16th of March, (where it had been since the 10th, I know not), and that it had a deadline for completion by the 25th of April. It was nice to receive this positive (and friendly) response from them, no doubt this will change once we move onto the next stage, but for now, thank you A&L for putting the customer first. I will keep forum members posted if and when further developments occur.

P.S. It has been through reading the forum letters (and answers) and realising that there are other people out there either in the same boat, or worse off than me that has given me the incentive to making the First move towards 'Financial Freedom'.