Rail firm's telesales are not the ticket

I tried to book a train ticket by phone through First Great Western. Neither my credit card nor debit card matched what the telesales operator had on the screen, so she couldn't sell me the ticket. In the end, I bought the tickets from a different rail company, GNER, without a murmur.
JM, London

This is a software problem that is losing First Great Western much telesales business. In January, the company stepped up the sensitivity of its address verification software because of increased fraud. Now, the details the operator types in must match that on credit and debit cards exactly. Sales are refused for only one wrong capital letter or missing comma. FGW is trying to resolve the problem, but it will continue for a while. Next time, have your card statement in front of you to dictate the address exactly or buy online.

Did I lose out on £1m Premium Bond prize?

My National Savings index-linked certificates matured in January and I chose to switch them to Premium Bonds. Hearing nothing, I telephoned in February and was told they had not received my certificate. A supervisor then confirmed that they did have my certificate and assured me that my Premium Bond numbers would be backdated to January so I could enter the March draw. They weren't and I could have missed out on a £1m prize.
CP, St Helens

National Savings has now reissued your certificates backdated to January and can say for certain that they did not win a prize in the March draw. It does not put issued Premium Bond numbers into a tombola to pick out the winners. Instead the computer, Ernie, generates a list of random numbers. Some will match existing Premium Bonds but many, of course, will not.

National Savings then checks which of the random numbers match qualifying bonds and awards prizes in the order the numbers were drawn. The list is filed so National Savings can still see that none of your numbers appeared for any prize in March.

Why your arrears are not in Mint condition

We looked at our Experian credit files after being turned down for new credit cards. Mint credit card said we had made late payments about 30 times. This is not true. We did slip into arrears in 2003 and since then have paid an agreed amount.
MR, London

Mint has checked your file and says the late payment record is correct. Not because your payments are late now but because you have not yet paid off the original arrears which are a couple of years late. This was the minimum amount due before Mint stopped you using the card and you set up the repayment arrangement.

The £62 a month you are currently paying is clearing the arrears, now down to £89. Once the arrears are cleared, Mint will stop registering late payments although the repayment arrangement will still show as you will then be clearing the outstanding balance of £2,438.

Integrity was not the best policy for our endowment

Last October, we decided to sell our Clerical Medical endowment policy through Integrity. Five months later, we are banging our heads against a brick wall. The only contact we have had is at our doing and each time we are told to call back next week as no information is available. We would like to cancel now but Integrity says that's not possible and we must let it take its course.
PR, Stirling

Someone at Integrity has not been reading from the script correctly. You are allowed to cancel instructions to sell a policy, although there is a £250 fee for changing your mind.

Integrity matches buyers with sellers and, it says, finding a buyer is taking a long time. But, rather than keep you waiting any longer, the company has agreed to buy your policy itself immediately, for at least 30 per cent more than the surrender value. The premiums you have paid since last October will be repaid.

Getting through to benefit office is a full-time job

I lost my job last December and claimed jobseeker's allowance. I also claimed housing benefit from Manchester City Council, submitting as proof of identity and address a letter from the JobCentre which included my National Insurance number and my tenancy agreement. They then said they needed my landlord's address, which was on the tenancy agreement, and more evidence of my National Insurance number. I provided this but have heard nothing since. I have tried countless times to phone but never once got through.
DT, Manchester

Manchester City Council had a new computer system installed in January, which resulted in long delays paying benefits. It has now started paying you, backdated to the start of your claim, and written to apologise for not requesting all the information it needed in one letter.

· Email Margaret Dibben at money.writes@observer.co.uk or write to Margaret Dibben, Money Writes, The Observer, 3-7 Herbal Hill, London EC1R 5EJ 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.