ASK TONY: O2 said I could cut my monthly phone bill from £19 to £17 by switching to a new tariff - but it soared to £700!

I was paying mobile phone network provider O2 £19 a month for a contract, which included unlimited minutes.

I was told I could reduce the cost to £17 a month for 1,000 minutes, which, it estimated, would be adequate for our use. But we ended up with huge bills.

O2 offered me another agreement with unlimited minutes for £20 per month.

However, it failed to implement the new agreement. This has led to me being billed for £700.

When I disputed this, the company made a goodwill payment into my bank account, but has requested that I pay the balance.

D. W., Kent.

Crossed wires: One reader was given a £700 shock when he switched tariffs with O2

Crossed wires: One reader was given a £700 shock when he switched tariffs with O2

O2 has conducted a thorough examination of your account.

As you say, you swapped to the 1,000 minutes contract in February 2016. This was not enough for you, so you wrote to O2 in July 2016.

O2 offered two alternative tariffs with unlimited minutes.

You have supplied a copy of a letter in which you ask to be moved onto one of these tariffs, but O2 does not have a record of receiving this.

When you made contact again in January 2017, you were moved onto a more suitable tariff.

O2 has now decided to refund the call charges that would have fallen into the unlimited tariff from July 2016 to January 2017. This totals £618.05.

You have already received a credit of £354.50, so you will also be receiving £263.55. Plus, a £50 goodwill gesture will be applied to your next bill.

However, your letter raised another point. You frequently call 0871 numbers. These made up £127.69 of your chargeable calls during this period.

O2's terms clearly set out that these are chargeable, as are numbers starting 05, 070, 07744, 07755, 0870, and 09. This is standard for mobile operators and for home phones.

In the case of O2, the 0871 numbers cost 55p per minute plus the service charge of the company running the number.

Sometimes, these calls are unavoidable, but it is worth checking the website saynoto0870.com, to see if there is an alternative.

O2 was unable to get hold of you by phone, so has written to apologise and to confirm the actions taken.

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Could you take matters into your own hands, tackle your own temptations and make yourself wealthier - or just happier?

On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost look at some tricks you can deploy to nudge yourself.

Also we look at why NS&I’s new income bonds are proving such a hit with readers and why you should get an investing plan B for when the market inevitably crashes one day.

Press play to listen to the show below, or listen (and please subscribe if you like the podcast) at iTunes, Acast and Audioboom or visit our This is Money Podcast page.      

Why won't Pets at Home insurance pay out? 

I insured my dog, Maggi, with Pets At Home in 2011. Sadly, she was put to sleep last year because of suspected cancer.

Unfortunately, over the period of her illness, Pets At Home changed underwriters, so my claim fell across two groups.

As things stand, I am still waiting for payment of a bill that was more than £500.

L. A., Chard, Somerset.

Pets At Home confirms that it changed its insurance provider in November 2016.

Your dog's treatment occurred at a time when your policy was being renewed, which, as you suspected, led to your claim falling between two underwriters, with one paying its share, but the other not paying promptly enough.

Pets At Home agrees that this resulted in 'an unacceptable delay in settling the claim at what we know will have been a very difficult time'.

It has now paid you the money and has added £50 as a goodwill gesture, along with sincere apologies for the delay.

STRAIGHT TO THE POINT 

On my credit card bills, there is a statement date and a payment date. Can you explain what these mean?

I. C., Bath.

The statement date is the day on which your spending for the past month is tallied up, and your monthly bill is set in stone and sent out to you in the post.

The payment date for this bill is normally around 25 days later.

Anything you spend after the statement date and before the payment date will appear on the following month's bill.

*** 

I have inherited a pension annuity from my husband and will receive it in monthly instalments. Do I have to pay tax on it?

A. L., Hull.

In most cases, income tax will be payable on an annuity paid to a widow or widower after their spouse's death. However, there is no tax on joint-life or guaranteed pension annuity payments in certain circumstances.

To be free of income tax, the husband must have died under the age of 75 on or after December 3, 2014, and the widow must have first started to take the annuity payments on or after April 6, 2015, for the payment of a joint-life or guaranteed pension annuity.

*** 

My wife has shares in Aviva and has always had dividends sent by cheque. But we have received a letter saying they will now only be paid by bank transfer.

She prefers to receive all payments by cheque, so she can see what she's getting. Will Aviva offer this service on request?

H. S, Sunderland.

No. Since November, all Aviva dividends have been paid directly into nominated bank accounts. 

The company says 56,400 dividend cheques were not cashed last year, so this new system will ensure that everyone gets their money.

*** 

I read in Money Mail about the case of David Burnett, who used your template letter to claim compensation for being sold an annuity that didn't take into account his health conditions. 

How can I get hold of this template letter?

A. M., by email.

If you have access to the internet, you can find the template letter on our website here. If you don't, ask a relative or neighbour, or try your library's computers to access the web.

I think I have an Isa but Nationwide says I don't 

I believe I have an old Isa account with Nationwide.

I have three books with Nationwide, all of which are stamped cancelled and closed, with the front corners cut off.

This account was opened in May 2009 with a balance of £5,546 and does not have either of these signs of closure.

The last record I have was in August 2009, when the balance was £546. Interest of £22 was then added in April 2010.

My local branch insists that the money was transferred into another Isa.

D. W., Surrey.

I receive a large number of letters from people who come across old building society passbooks. 

Frequently, these appear to have some money in them but, all too often, the news is disappointing.

The fact is that these accounts could be closed without having the passbook, particularly when the money was transferred to another account. 

It may also be that the building society closed that type of account and moved the money into a newer version.

In either case, the passbook will not have been stamped closed, nor will the edge of the pages have been cut.

In this case, your Isa was transferred to Nationwide from Portman as part of a merger.

In November 2010, Nationwide received an Isa transfer form from Cheltenham & Gloucester signed by you. The closing balance of £569.35 was transferred across.

These days, Nationwide texts customers confirming that it has released Isa funds.

But in 2010, no confirmation was issued, as the onus was on the new provider to keep the customer informed.

Nationwide has now written to you, enclosing proof of the transfer.

YOU HAVE YOUR SAY  

Every week, Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some from our report about a woman who was refused a credit card because she owed £349 a month on a car loan...

Banks don’t like certain things on credit records, such as payday loans. But it’s worrying that your car loan can count against you. That’s the only way some people can afford transport.

H. N., Yorkshire.

Banks won’t lend money to anyone who’s retired, even if they have a good pension. They are viewed as a risk. It’s ageist.

U. B., London.

It’s up to the bank who it lends to. It assessed the risk and said ‘no’. It’s annoying if you’re the one rejected, but I don’t think you can argue it.

E. E., Kent.

You hear all the time of people who shouldn’t be getting credit being accepted for loans and yet, this woman, who seems to manage her money sensibly, is denied. It doesn’t make sense.

G. D., St Albans, Herts.

When I tried to buy a laptop on interest-free credit, I was rejected because of my car loan. If I’d known at the time, I would have got a cheaper car.

C. E., Edinburgh.

The reason Santander gives in this case is codswallop. Are we to believe that no other Santander customer has a car loan?

E. D., Gloucester.

Santander has strict criteria. Five years ago, I split from my husband and needed to raise £10,000 to pay off debts. I have plenty of equity in my home, yet Santander refused. I walked around the corner to a rival — and it lent me the money.

H.T., Hull.

A friend of mine was given a credit card with a £3,000 limit when he was unemployed and getting £65 a week — and this woman is refused?

D. A., Durham.