Hi Bathspray, be careful going through your own insurer as they might try to claim that the damage was due to Escape of Water rather than by Storm damage (as the damage done to your property was not done directly by the storm, but due to the water running from your neighbour's property). Normally this would not be an issue because your insurance company would then contact your neighbour to claim from them as they are liable for the damage. However it's becoming increasingly common for policies to have large Escape of Water excesses (as this is a growing cause of loss for insurance companies over the last few years). If your excess was, say £250 (on top of your standard excess of £100), then you could have to pay the first £350 of a repair bill. If the total damage is less, or not much more than this, then you are trusting your insurance company to go through the hassle of claiming from your neighbour. Your neighbour (or his/her insurer) should be liable to cover all losses (including your excess) but your own insurance company is not. Check your policy wording carefully!

Ok first off pay no attention to ANYTHING they have to say about acceptance criteria or loadings. If they accepted what you said at the time and have no way of proving it to be otherwise then they have to accept that what you were saying was the truth. Additionally if they made any mistakes in accepting you, or in pricing the product they sold you, then that is none of your concern because they offered you a price and you accepted it and they have nothing else to go on. Industry standards mean absolutely nothing, so you don't need to talk to a broker. More importantly if they did make a 'mistake' in not loading your policy properly then the FSA would be completely on your side. The only thing that matters is the wording of the policy that they sold to you. Good luck with your case. Don't accept it if they say they will call you back (demand to speak to the claims manager / underwriters directly) and if they start dragging their feet then start mentioning the distress that this is putting on you because they would end up being liable for any damages to your own health from this. If you have not managed to get anywhere soon then write directly to their complaints department to complain about the poor treatment you are getting. Be clear to state that they have not provided any evidence to dispute what you say, and that they are effectively calling you a liar for no reason.

Thanks 42man - you're a star. I have sent the request off and will report back when I get an answer. Thanks again.

I don't know what luck other people will have at other branches, but I picked up a couple charges (just because Iæd miscalculated how much Iæd had left the week before payday) and picked up 3 charges in a row. Admittedly my own fault, I talked to a personal banker about getting them refunded and she did it right away. Not sure if the current situation is making them refund anyone who looks like they would put up a hassle, but worth a go!

Thanks guys, I will persue with that line. Out of interest why should I not sign these letters? Is there a legal reason or is it just because they might try and use it to forge something?

Hey everyone, I am hoping that some of you might be able to help with a frustrating situation I have found myself in. In 1998 I took out a Bank account with Lloyds (my first account). After a couple of years I went to university, and switched to a student account, and ran my overdraft up to £1500. However as Lloyds had given me a really poor service, but mostly because Barclays were offering a £3000 overdraft limit I switched my account over in My 2002. I informed Barclays of my current Lloyds account to get the overdraft transferred, and once it had been opened I went across the town square to the Lloyds branch and closed my account handing over my current and savings accounts cards. My overdraft was successfully transferred to my Barclays account (which I still have). Around May 2006 I received a lettter from Thames Credit informing me that I owed them £1700-ish (I forget the exact amount) on behalf of a debt I had to Lloyds. I called them and told them that I disputed the claim, and that I had not had a Lloyds account in years and that the overdraft I'd had was transferred. They told me I should put it in writing, which I did, and I have not heard form them again. Back in January 2008 I moved house, and under the lettings agents credit check they told me that I had performed poorly due to a CCJ on my credit history with the reference being a Lloyds Loan. Shocked at this I paid for a report from CreditExpert, and found out that it was not a CCJ, but that there was a claim for £1,721 from Aktiv Kapital with a Lloyds Loan reference. I sent a letter to Aktiv Kapital disputing that I owed the money, and asking them to send what proof they had. The sent back a few numbers on a mostly blank sheet of A4 paper (that anyone with 2 braincells could write in Word). This information had no evidence, just basically the same information as my credit report of it: Started:17/03/1998Default Balance:£ 1,721Current Balance:£1,721Defaulted On:22/07/2005 as well as my name, D.O.B, and an old address which they have since updated to my current one. I wrote back to them stating that this information did in no way constitute proof, and they should drop the claim unless they can prove that I owe the money (which of course they cannot do). I received no reply from them. So I contacted Equifax to ask them if they could remove it (and enclosed a copy of what Aktiv Kapital had sent me). They stated that they could not remove it without the claimant's permission, but added a note to say that I had disputed the claim. Unsurprisingly Aktiv Kapital did not remove the claim (although the dispute notice remains on there), and Equifax advised me to try and contact them directly to get it removed. I have since written to them under the Data Protection Act to get hold of a copy of all of the information they hold about me, and have told them that I am going to put in a complaint if they cannot prove that I owe the money and still refuse to drop the claim. I have sent that by recorded delivery, but I am still waiting for a reply (I only sent it 2 days ago). I know they can't prove it, but I'm worried that they will keep this claim on my credit history as a way to try and ransom me into paying (credit piracy!). My question is what do I do next? I have thought about the Financial Ombudsman but they are likely to take a long time, during which I have a £1,700 default sitting on my account. The last action I took on the account was in May 2002 when I closed it, and as that was over 6 years ago I think that I could have it statute barred, but it seems like this would be admitting that I owed the debt. If they took me to court over the debt I'm sure it would get thrown out so this seems like the best way to get it resolved, but I have no way to force this. What's the best and quickest way to get this resolved? Thanks in advance! ps - I'm thinking that this could be Lloyds' cock-up and not Aktiv Kapital's, but I hate the way that they can leave a claim on my file without doing anything about it, and give me a bad credit rating for years.

When pricing a policy insurers can handle previous claims in a number of ways, depending on where the underwriters feel the risk lies. Some insurers will take even a non-fault claim as an indication that you will have further fault claims. Others will ignore non-fault claims as long as the full costs are recovered from the third party insurer. Some will even take a combination of factors, such as ignoring 2 or 3 non-fault claims, but penalising you if there are more. There is nothing illegal about this. Best thing to do is shop around for the best deal.