The Gulf between payment and refund

Last December, I ordered three tickets from Lastminute.com to fly to Tanzania in June to visit our daughter. The tickets, with Gulf Air, cost £1,444 and arrived in January. In March, I contacted Gulf Air to inform them that my wife is a vegetarian, only to be told that Gulf Air no longer flies to Tanzania.

I asked Lastminute.com for a refund. They said it would take several months as they had to wait to get the money back from Gulf Air before returning it to me. It still hasn't arrived.
NL, Cardiff


Gulf Air didn't tell us it had cancelled the route, says Lastminute.com. Apparently it is normal practice for airlines to inform agents of changes so agents can tell clients.

Lastminute.com has checked your booking history and confirmed this did not happen, creating what it calls an 'anomaly'. In compensation Gulf Air is giving you two complimentary tickets to Dubai with VIP treatment and Lastminute.com has accelerated your refund so the money has finally arrived.

Subsidence has cost me dear


In 1998, I made a minor subsidence claim. In June, I phoned my broker to renew the buildings insurance but, for the first time, was asked to confirm that I had never suffered subsidence damage.

I discovered that my broker of many years, Membership Services Direct (MSD), had been sold to Bishopscourt Affinity Solutions (BAS). BAS deals with a different underwriter, one which refuses to take on houses with a history of subsidence. The previous underwriter, who paid the claim, is a Lloyd's syndicate, Canopius, but they will not take me on now, even through a different broker.
DS, Sheffield

You are right to worry, because insurers do not willingly take on houses that have suffered subsidence and that makes your house difficult to sell. I discovered that BAS bought only part of MSD and the rest, though not your bit, went to Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society. Liverpool Victoria has no responsibility to you but has taken pity and agreed to offer you buildings insurance with subsidence cover for £305.

Headstone headache


Is the cost of a headstone for the grave a legitimate funeral expense that can be charged to the deceased's estate? I am co-executor of my mother's will, with her partner of 20 years. He is also the residual beneficiary who gets everything left over and is unwilling to allow the cost of the headstone as it would eat into his final total. Does he have any rights over the cost of the headstone, or is it my decision as next of kin?
RA, London

The Inland Revenue allows the cost of tombstones and headstones to be deducted before calculating inheritance tax. But this is not an expense that can be paid by an estate, unless the will specifically says so. You can only appeal to your mother's partner. If he agrees, he is entitled to a say in the cost and style. Or you could pay for a headstone yourself.

More info, less holiday money


Royal Bank of Scotland charged me £9.63 to withdraw €300 on holiday in the Canary Islands last December, a total cost of £222. I have used the same ATM on previous visits and the charges were nothing like this. A year earlier, for €300 the fee was only £4 and I was debited £203.
JMcI, Penarth

Charges haven't increased but, since last August, they have been itemised, says RBS.

Before, statements showed just the commission, which is 2.25 per cent, maximum £4. Now an exchange rate transaction fee of 2.65 per cent is shown separately, adding £5.63 to the price of €300. And your holiday money cost more last winter because the euro had strengthened.

Hoping to collect from Abbey


My father-in-law was, I allege, mis-sold a with-profits bond by Abbey in December 2000. He was 73 and should have not moved his £35,000 savings from a safe Abbey interest-bearing account to an equity-linked product.

Now Abbey is demanding a £6,000 'market value adjustment' (MVA) if he withdraws his money early, 17 per cent of his original investment. If Abbey agrees to settle, how much should we expect - the original amount or more?
DC, Longworth

The Ombudsman can uphold complaints when investors lose out after being wrongly advised to invest in with-profits funds or where firms failed to give clear information about MVAs in their policy documents.

If Abbey accepts this policy was mis-sold, it should put him back to the position he would have been in if he had not taken the salesman's advice. So he would get his £35,000 plus interest since December 2000. This could be the rate of interest paid on the savings account he had or Bank of England base rate plus 1 per cent compound.

· 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.