Fight to salvage my old banger

My car was stolen in spring and I claimed on my insurance with Admiral. The car was later found damaged, and written off by Admiral largely because it was 10 years old.

I am satisfied with their settlement offer but made it clear I wanted to buy the salvage. The car was old, but sound and reliable. I repeatedly asked for assurance that they were looking after the car, but Admiral denied responsibility and will not pay for the cost of returning the car to me. Is this reasonable as it was their decision to move it to save storage costs?
SE, London

Admiral says your car was a write-off not only through age but also because it was extensively damaged while stolen. The engineer declared it category B salvage, which means it can only be broken up for spare parts. It must never reappear on the road, and a certificate of destruction must be issued to the DVLA confirming that it has been scrapped.

If you still want the car back, Admiral will not charge you for delivery or the value of the salvage. Because your claim has taken so long, it is sending you £100 compensation.

The letter denying respon sibility for further damage was standard, and Admiral says if your car had sustained serious extra damage, it would negotiate with the agents who were storing it.

Is my student son's pension at risk?

My son, 22, has a BA, an MA and is embarking
on a PhD, which means he will not have paid any
National Insurance contributions until he is 25.
Should he or we be paying in, or can he be
accorded credits?
BC, Teignmouth, Devon

Presumably you are thinking about his state pension.
Students do not receive National Insurance contribution
credits for the pension while they are studying, even for
their first degrees. The working life starts at 16 and to
qualify for a full basic state pension, people must work
for nine out of 10 working years by the state retirement
age. Alternatively, men must have a working life of 42
years and women, at the moment, 39.

He can make voluntary Class 3 payments to avoid a
shortfall, or ask his local tax office for more
information.

Piling on pain for accident victim


On 24 June last year, my son sustained a severe traumatic brain injury in a car accident. He had received a credit card from Capital One a couple of days earlier.

I told Capital One I would settle his bill as soon as I could access his bank account but queried a transaction dated 24 June on the statement as I could not find his credit card. The purchase has never been identified.

After several letters and phone calls, Capital One said it would review his account in March. I heard nothing and in April asked for confirmation that the delay had not jeopardised his credit rating.

Capital One said it was considering writing off the balance but would register the debt with a credit reference agency. I would rather pay the bill.
LM, Ripon

After one call from Money Writes, Capital One agreed to write off the debt, cancel the £18 annual fee and told the credit reference agencies to remove the default notice and payment history it had recorded. Such a gesture of goodwill would have carried more weight if the card company had made it a year ago.

Neither should it have taken so long to identify the transactions which you believe probably were your son's.

Euro-friendly credit hunt


I am trying to find a credit card to use in the eurozone countries. I will repay by cheques drawn on my Barclays euro current account to avoid converting both purchases and payment into sterling.
DA, Sunderland

Barclays could grant you a credit card only if you had a home in Germany, France or Spain, or were a foreign national living in the UK.

However, Bank of Ireland will provide you with the euro-credit card you need through its Dublin operation. Contact it on 003531 6798433.

· Email Margaret Dibben at money.writes@observer.co.uk or write to Margaret Dibben, Money Writes, The Observer, 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.