I W writes: My brother, MW, lives under great difficulty in Zimbabwe. I live in the UK and of necessity manage some of his affairs. My brother and his wife each hold a Barclays bank debit card with my address as the mailing point. They have to make regular shopping trips to South Africa to stock up with provisions for themselves and relatives.

A week before his most recent trip, Barclays posted me new cards for them. There was insufficient time to courier the cards before the trip so I called the bank and it reassured me the old cards would still be valid to the end of that month, provided the new cards were not used first. I told my brother and they proceeded with the trip, but then discovered both cards had been invalidated. Their journey — of hundreds of miles — was thus largely wasted. I called the bank to complain, but it refused point blank to speak to me and there was not even a hint of sympathy for the inconvenience caused.

All debit cards incorporate a date stating that they are valid until the end of a specified month, but the system with Barclays (and, I suspect, other banks) is more complicated than it appears. In the case of Barclays, replacement cards for those that are “running out of time” are normally issued during the first week of the month preceding that in which the old ones become invalid. As the bank has scores of thousands to issue each month, this process normally takes up to a week. The old ones are then automatically invalidated 28 days after the new ones are issued (or earlier if the new ones are used). But this time there was a hiccup and your brother’s cards were not issued until the 14th of the month, but the 28-day rule still applied from the start.

When MW called Barclays from South Africa, no help was forthcoming. Fortunately, his son, who was with him, was able to use his card, so the family were able to buy at least some goods.

The bank has now written with full apologies and has credited your brother's account with £100. It has also discussed the matter by phone with both your brother and his wife, and you say: “Hopefully, the bank now understands the problems that its customers have in dealing with it from countries such as Zimbabwe.”

Hot under the collar on Npower

C G writes: We switched our electricity and gas from Npower to Eon at the start of the year. The final readings for both fuels from Npower were incorrect and it had also been charging us on the wrong tariffs. It took months to issue final invoices; we eventually agreed the gas one and paid the £167 demanded. But while I calculate we are in credit on the electricity one by about £170, Npower claims we owe more than £560. I was told it would take a further two months for this to be investigated: and on the last day of the two months, I received a letter — a standard one explaining how to make a complaint. I told Npower that if it did not meet its two-month deadline, I would write to The Sunday Times — and I have.

Your calculation for the amount owed for electricity was not spot on, but it was certainly a good deal closer than Npower’s. It transpires you were in fact £237 in credit. Npower says that initially it was in dispute with the new supplier over readings, which kicked off this lengthy delay, though I doubt if it accounted for all of it. The firm is rounding your credit figure up to £300 as a goodwill gesture.

Perils of deposits in wrong account

B R writes: I discovered a month ago that I paid a lot of money to the wrong account. I made an error in typing the bank sort code (only one figure!). Instead of the money going into my savings account it has found its way to an account of a company with NatWest Bank. Neither my own bank nor NatWest has been very helpful in getting the money returned, and won’t give me the name of the company my money has gone to. Neither do they seem to be making any headway in getting this company to return the money to me.

This is never good news, though hopefully most unintended recipients of such money would act promptly in returning it when asked. Sometimes, the money may end up simply in a bank’s suspense account, but in cases where it has got through to another individual’s or firm’s account, your final option is to issue a notice of disclosure to the receiving bank, forcing it to disclose the name of the recipient, and opening the way to take action in the courts to retrieve your cash.

That is the last resort; the recipient bank, once it is aware of the situation, should ask its customer to return the money. It cannot unilaterally take it though — and the legal team at one of the high-street banks suggested that before going to the expense of issuing such a notice (which you can either do yourself or through a solicitor — both ways cost money), you should tell that bank you intend issuing such a notice. This may spur it to exert more persuasion on its customer or even (sometimes) make a refund out of its own pocket. But if the customer refuses, I am afraid the only option is to take the recipient to court.

Post Office kept us waiting

J G writes: My husband and I opened a Post Office instant saver account recently. The literature stated it would take two to three working days to open, and the items required to operate the account would arrive in five to 10 working days. Nothing happened for more than three weeks and when I tried to ring customer services on two occasions, I waited for 15 minutes each time listening to horrible music and gave up. I wondered whether anyone else has had such problems.

Yes, they certainly have, and I have been in danger of becoming an additional customer-service arm of the Post Office in the same way as earlier this year I felt I should have been put on the payroll of Barclays and Nationwide for my assistance in their problems with administration over Isas. Your account was opened just short of a month after you applied and you have been offered £50 as a goodwill gesture, to include the interest you would have been earning had the account been opened promptly.

PN, meanwhile, had applied for a Growth Bond with the Post Office and she, too, heard nothing for many weeks. When I last spoke to her she had had an assurance in writing that interest would be backdated to the point at which the Post Office received the money. I am assured by the Post Office that this is the way that all such delayed openings will be treated. As PN had additional problems, she will be receiving a goodwill gesture of £150.

Where to find missing accounts

A L writes: I had a savings account with the South of England building society in the early 1980s. What has happened to it and how can I claim my money back?

L P also writes: I have a pension policy dating from many years ago with Hill Samuel Life Assurance. Can you help me trace what has happened to this company?

For savings accounts, the website mylostaccount.org.uk should provide the answers (or you can obtain a form from any bank or building-society branch). South of England merged with Nationwide many years ago; call in at a local branch.

The quickest and cheapest route to find the homes of now-defunct life and pension companies is the Association of British Insurers, 51 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HQ,

Tel. 020 7600 3333. Hill Samuel became part of Scottish Widows and nestles under the Lloyds TSB umbrella.

E-mail Diana Wright at the address below (no attachments please) or write to A Question of Money, The Sunday Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1ST, giving a daytime telephone number. We cannot send personal replies or deal with every letter. Please do not send original documents or SAEs.

Advice is offered without legal responsibility. questionofmoney@sunday-times.co.uk