Helford, Thanks, I have checked out both those sites. Unfortunately, both refer only to the procedure to be adopted where the claim situation arises around the cusp of a change of insurance company. I did have the problem of attributing liability at the outset when the new company denied liability and offered no further advice, but I was able to 'point them in the right direction', as it were, because I had already done my homework in respect of ABI's Domestic Subsidence Claim Handling Agreement. The new company reluctantly conceded liability. The issue I have now is that company's refusal to renew after the second year, together with the Mail on Sunday's assertion that such a company is obliged to carry on providing cover for problem properties.

Can anyone offer advice; I'll be very brief because the overall circumstances are a bit more complex but I will explain further if necessary. A claim was made with an insurance company (new business) for exterior wall cracks. Their loss adjusters determined the cause was a fractured drain. The cost of the claim to the company was around £3500 after £1000 excess had been paid. The claim was made only a few weeks into the policy period. At the expiration of the 12 month policy the company renewed it. However, at the expiration of the second policy the company refused to renew, citing the reason as the 'subsidence claim'. No further discussion would be entered into. The insurance companies' regulatory body and the Financial Services Ombudsman dismiss the refusal as simply a commercial trading decision and therefore outside their jurisdiction. An article in the Financial section of the Mail on Sunday (28/12/08) states: 'Under industry codes, an insurer must carry on providing cover for problem properties'. I am unable to find these codes and have had no luck with the Mail. Can anyone help?

SUCCESS!! Many thanks to rosiecotton for advice. Because of inclement weather I couldn't wait for the credit card company to get their act together, so I had the dryer repaired on 24/1/07 by an independent engineer who I contacted via UK Whitegoods. The repair cost £79.32 ( thermostat kaput). Then I contacted the card company, Goldfish, spoke to a very helpful lady and on 2/2/07 emailed them a copy of the invoice. Today I got a letter from Goldfish accepting the claim; they will credit the cost of repair to my account.

Does anyone have knowledge or experience of a travel company called Como St Travel/Ocean-Florida/beatthebrochure? They do have a website but I'm trying to establish if they are bona fide. They are members, it seems, of TTA (Travel Trust Association) but not ATOL, although they say they are agents of ATOL companies.

Thanks craig, I think I'm going to get the opinion of another structural engineer.

waynedear I sympathise with you up to a point, but that parked car could have been a pedestrian; and obviously you were unable to stop within the distance you could see to be clear. The nature of injury and damage sustained is obviously another matter but in the absence of good evidence to the contrary e.g. the other car reversed into you, or clear unambiguous evidence of fraud by the other party or parties, it seems like you have to take it on the chin.

This is a bit complicated and I wonder if anyone can advise about an appropriate course of action. My wife and I act on behalf of her 88 years old widowed aunt who has a circa 1926 3 bed semi in Manchester. We take care of all her affairs as she is unable to cope. Last July I renewed the building and contents insurance, as I have in recent years, but changed the insurance company. Last August I noticed a quite wide crack (wide enough to insert fingers) in the brick dividing wall between the front room and the hall. The crack has torn the wallpaper in the front room but is not evident on the hall side. Although I had not seen the crack before (I don't often visit) it did not appear to be of recent origin. We got in a structural engineer who found cracks to front and rear exterior walls and dishing to the upper gable. He suggested the house needed underpinning, costing about £15k. I contacted the (new) insurance company who sent round their own surveyor (loss adjuster). I supplied a copy of our engineer' report. After 6 weeks hassle from me the loss adjusters said the insurance company would monitor the cracks but would not pay for repairs as the damage obviously preceded the start of the insurance policy. I was able to point out to them the ABI Agreement for dealing with such claims when there has been a change of company. So the loss adjuster came again, this time with a building contractor who dug a couple of holes and lifted some floorboards. The upshot was that he found a complete fracture of the sewage drain spur pipe where the soil stack joins it, so that every flush of the bathroom toilet results in a water escape into the subsoil. Apparently, this makes the subsoil spongy and unable to support the structure - hence the wall cracks at that particular location. They agreed to mend the fracture and in fact are at present doing it. As for the internal crack (and cracking over the porch), they say this is due to 'differential movement' between the external perimeter wall, which is built on footings, and the internal wall, which is built on the oversite. Therefore there is no need for underpinning. They have agreed to monitor all cracks and will repair rear cracks once stability has been established. Our own engineer has been made aware of the situation and stands by his report. So we have a conflict about cause and effect, with possibly a substantial amount of expense involved. Can anyone help to resolve the matter? I have thought about engaging another structural engineer - but where does it all end?

Please can anyone help with this. On 26/12/05 I bought a Creda TCR2 Tumble dryer from Powerhouse, paying by credit card (£149.99). I did not take out an extended warranty. On 7/1/07, 12 days outside the warranty, the machine is kaput in that it produces no heat, so no dry clothes. Powerhouse is no longer in business so I emailed Creda. Their response is that "no white goods manufacturer can guarantee 100% reliability of its products" and therefore I have to pay for a repair. Creda charge £89.98 call-out to fix one fault; alternatively I can take out an extended warranty at £14.98 per month for ten months (£149.80) which has the benefit of allowing me to call them out any number of times. I have read robbond55's thread with regard to his Creda dryer, which was older than mine, but his success was with the retailer Currys rather than the manufacturer. Am I stuck because Powerhouse has gone out of business?

As with manchesterbloke, the company supplied the wrong part, which I returned. There was no outright refusal to supply the right part - in fact they promised to send the right part; but they simply did not do it. Even if part of my order had been right (it wasn't) the missing parts would have made it useless. Manchesterbloke expected to get a pukka phone complete with accessories to enable its intended purpose - a package; he didn't get what he paid for. It seems to me that the retailer and the card company have not fulfilled their obligations.

Hmmm. It seems to me that you were supplied with the wrong goods (i.e. if all parts are not the right parts, they are therefore all the wrong parts). In 2005, via the internet and telephone, and using my Goldfish Mastercard I bought a used car part costing less than £40 from a company 90 miles away. They sent the wrong part. I returned it at their request and at my expense (£4.90). Despite several phone calls the parts company failed to supply the right goods. I wrote to Goldfish, explained the circumstances, and my account was credited with the amount originally debited. I appreciate this was buying at a distance rather than personal shopping but their is a certain similarity. Until you got it home and set things up, I don't see how you could be expected to know they had given you the wrong parts. They are supposed to be the professionals who know what they are doing.

Who was the letter from stating there would be no refund - the shop or the credit card company?

Thanks ukaviator. No, I have no banking issues at this time and hopefully won't have any in the future; but never say never.

Hi everyone, please allow me to introduce myself. I learned about this site when I had a rant on moneysavingexpert.com about a tumble dryer I bought 12 months a fortnight ago that has gone kaput. Lo and behold robbond55 had the same problem with the same model of appliance after 20 months and was reimbursed the repair cost. So I've emailed the company and await a response; I've already had an acknowledgement. Whoops! Have I posted this on the wrong forum? Should it be in General Consumer Issues? If so, please can someone move it. Thanks.