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I'm having a ding-dong with Phoenix Life Ltd. They wrote to us in March saying that they were unable to collect direct debits from our account. I phoned and said that there was no problem, the direct debit was still set up. They asked me to send in a new mandate so I did. Meanwhile they wrote and said that given that we hadn't paid for 3 months, the policy had lapsed. I looked in to it further and found that when they wrote to us in January, they noted our account number details. We didn't check it because it hadn't changed but it turns out that they wrote down the account number of our old bank account (which was closed in 2005). They say they will only reinstate the policy if we complete a new declaration of health. Nothing's particularly changed in our health, but we object on principle -- and also because they might suddenly decide to cancel the policy for good or up the premium. They refuse to admit that the non-collection of premiums was our error and not theirs and claim that they were getting money out of the old account all along. We're writing to the bank to get them to refute this. Well done if you're still reading this pathetic, boring and annoying saga... We're going to take them to the Financial Ombudsman, but I was just wondering if anyone else had had a similar experience. Is this just sheer incompetence or a brazen attempt to get a higher premium out of us?

hello just thought i'd share the love with you all. my dishwasher recently broke down (sob) and the repair man said that it would be £160 to fix it and that wouldn't be worth it. it was 3 years old and cost £499. i was pretty gutted but resigned to getting a new one until someone suggested that i go back to robert sayle where i bought it (part of the john lewis chain). first of all they gave me the flannel about it being out of the warranty, that i'd had the chance to buy the extended warranty but hadn't. i said i wanted them to fix it because 3 years was not an acceptable life for an expensive dishwasher. they said they'd speak to trading standards and get back to me. so they offered to pay for half the cost of a repair, or £100 towards a new one. i spoke to trading standards myself and the very helpful lady told me that robert sayle should indeed pay 100% of the cost of fixing it under the sale of goods act. i duly phoned the shop back and told them that i wanted them to pay for the whole thing. they persisted for a while in offering me half and i said i'd take it to the small claims court as the law was on my side. they eventually backed down and are now going to pay for the full cost of the repair. i'm really pleased, obviously, to have won this small victory (and to be able to stop washing up by hand!). but it's a real shock that the law is being so blatantly abused like this. if i hadn't stood my ground they would have tried to swindle me with the extended warranty c**p. more power to sites like this which raise awareness. doris

robert kernaghan was the person who signed my letter too. in pen. apparently.

sorry *blush*

dear all just thought i'd let you know that i've just received a letter from first direct saying that they will repay my bank charges without admitting liability. there's a waffly paragraph about how they are confident they would win in court but are 'mindful of the management time and irrecoverable legal costs' they would incur in court. doesn't your heart bleed? anyway, the bottom line is that as long as i sign to say i'm not pursuing it further, they'll send me a cheque. it's 'only' £60, but it's mine and it's coming back! thank you so much for a great website. power to the people and good luck to everyone else. 'doris' THREADS JOINED. PLEASE KEEP TO 1 THREAD PER CLAIM, OR IT WILL GET VERY CONFUSING FOR ALL. THANKS.

sent the letter to first direct, got the usual 'we will look in to your complaint' letter back with usual crappy leaflet. will keep you posted...

just spoke to first direct as suggested. very helpful person, but unable to help... says i need to write to customer relations. so i will! wish me luck...

hello thanks for v helpful site. i'm 'only' owed 60 quid (the rest is too old to claim ) from first direct. first question -- in your opinion, is it worth the hassle? (incidentally, it seems to be to me, but lots of people on this site seem to be claiming £000s). second question, relating to the first -- if i send the first direct letter to their main address in leeds, might i have to go to court in leeds? (i live in cambridge.) if so, i don't think £60 would cover the train fare. tia doris