Credit fraud had me at debt's door

A private investigator working for Capital One said I owed £641. I told him I was 15 years older than the person he sought and signed a disclaimer.

Some months later, I had a letter from Financial Trace & Collections demanding payment again and then a 'red final demand'. I faxed a copy of my passport. In July, I was confused and angry to receive a further letter from the doorstep recovery unit, and another in August demanding payment within seven days.
DC, Musselburgh

The crook might have intercepted your mail or rummaged through your dustbin to find your name and address and used it to make a fraudulent credit application. Capital One realised the account was fraudulent only after you sent in the disclaimer. It put a block on your account with FT&C, but the debt collectors overlooked this and continued to harass you. Capital One says this was 'human error'.

Your credit reference agency file had already been tarnished with this debt, but Capital One has told the agencies to wipe it clear.

You should check this with the agencies Experian and Equifax in a few weeks' time. Initially Capital One offered to pay the fee, but as this amounts to just £4, is sending you a £100 gift voucher for a store of your choice.

I've lost ?52,000 on my pension. Do I have a case for mis-selling?

When I retired a year ago, I had a pension fund
worth ?710,000 from two Equitable Life
guaranteed annuity rate policies and a collection
of others. My IFA recommended putting ?310,000
from the miscellaneous pensions in a drawdown
pension with Skandia, taking the maximum
income of ?20,000. The outcome has been a
disaster, with the Skandia fund now worth
?155,000 after taking tax-free cash.

I calculate my losses on the drawdown alone at
?52,000, while the IFA received ?15,000
commission. I appreciate that he could not have
forecast the stock market collapse, but I believe
he put his own interests before mine. Do I have a
case for mis-selling?
PK, Leeds

You cannot complain about your pension having fallen
in value, but the ombudsman does encourage anyone
who feels aggrieved about a financial product or service
to make contact.

You must first give the IFA the opportunity to make
amends, either by convincing you he was right to
recommend a drawdown pension or by restoring you to
the financial position you would have been in had he
not.

If you are unhappy with the outcome, contact the
Financial Services Ombudsman on 0845 080 1800 or
visit its website.

Accuracy was the worst policy

I do supply teaching and translating and study one day a week for an MSc. In June, Barclays granted me a £3,000 career development loan, but the company running the course went into liquidation before I paid any money. In July, I found another provider and reapplied for a loan. Barclays refused, blaming my credit record. What went wrong?
BY, London

Barclays assessed your second application by comparing it with the first and turned you down because, it says, the details conflicted. You applied by phone, but the bank says staff could write down only the facts you gave them. This is easy for people with clearcut jobs and earnings. You were rejected for trying to be accurate.

You made the first application while earning little during holidays and the second in term time, when you earned more. Perversely, the higher income pulled down your score because it contradicted the first application. Your job description also varied. Barclays has now agreed to lend you the money.

Any tickets for carpetbaggers?

Are there any building societies that do not exclude new investors from future windfalls?
DD, Lincoln

The 30 largest building societies and most others have restrictions. Nationwide and Norwich & Peterborough insist that any windfall goes to charity, Britannia lifts the restriction after five years, as does Scarborough - unless you keep more than £2,500 in the account. All emphasise they have no plans to convert.

· Email Margaret Dibben at money.writes@observer.co.uk or write to Margaret Dibben, Money Writes, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER and include a telephone number. Do not enclose SAEs or original documents. Letters are selected for publication and we cannot give personal replies. The newspaper accepts no legal responsibility for advice.