Questions of cash: 'Why did my insurer turn down my claim?'

Q. I am 30 and was diagnosed with testicular cancer two years ago. I had a critical illness policy with Legal & General, which refused my claim for £125,000 on the grounds that I had previously had minor keyhole surgery on my knee and failed to disclose this. The question on the policy form was "have you ever had any counselling?", to which I answered no because I had no "counselling". I am now out of time for a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
RB, by email

A. The decision by Legal & General is harsh, given the lack of association between the two conditions – but it appears legally justified. L&G says that had you disclosed your problems with your knee you would not have been offered a standard policy. It regards you as having committed a "reckless non-disclosure", and its approach in such situations, along with most of the rest of the industry "is to void the policy and refund the premiums". It says its attitude would be different if it regarded the non-disclosure as "inadvertent". L&G adds: "There are clear, unequivocal warnings on our application forms and we believe that they give customers every opportunity to fully disclose their medical history." Your error in filling out the form has been compounded by not complaining to the Financial Ombudsman in time. Friends Provident recently announced that it was breaking with the rest of the industry by agreeing to pay a proportion of the claim in cases such as yours. We hope other insurers will follow suit.

Q. In June last year I took out a mobile phone contract with CarphoneWarehouse. In May this year I agreed to renew the contract, but changed my mind and notified them both verbally and in writing by recorded delivery within the seven days allowed. But CarphoneWarehouse demands the full-year rental to cancel. Repeated letters and emails have had no response.
MP, Salford

A. After our intervention, CarphoneWarehouse advised you and ourselves that it would now accept cancellation of your contract providing you returned your handset it supplied more than a year ago, complete with all its accessories and in the original box. This seemed to us both unreasonable and potentially in breach of its contract – which probably allowed to you to keep the handset. CarphoneWarehouse now says this request was made in error and it will cancel the contract on receipt of the SIM card.

Q. My boiler, which was insured with Domestic & General, recently suffered from a leaking pipe. D&G's call handler told me I could get it repaired by an engineer approved by them. I did this, but they rejected my claim, saying I could only have the cost of an emergency repair paid for. I have paid the bill of £210.
VP, Pinner

A. Domestic & General says the tape of your conversation with its call handler proves she advised you only to have an emergency repair done. The fault related to your cold water system, which is not covered by your policy. But Domestic & General accepts there was a genuine misunderstanding and is refunding the £210 repair bill as a gesture of goodwill.

Q. I bought a cooker from Comet, but they were unable to connect it. The delivery person promised a refund of the £100 fitting charge within 10 days. I have repeatedly phoned Comet chasing the refund.

A. The repayment was made by Comet before we took up your case. To apologise for the two-month delay, Comet has sent you a further £25.

Q.Demon has been my internet service provider for 15 years. Last August I moved half a mile, keeping my phone number, and advised Demon in good time, saying I wanted my broadband service continued. But my service was not transferred. Eventually I cancelled the contract. Now it has sent me a bill for £271.32, which it says is a year's contract I agreed to. I don't recall agreeing to this, and as a pensioner I can't afford the bill.
JW, Newbury

A. Demon, now part of Thus, says the problem was with BT's "cease and re-provide process" which it has to rely on. Apparently you agreed to a new 12-month contract by opening an envelope from Demon advising your new password details – the envelope stated that if you opened it the contract was renewed. We sympathise if you feel this is not a transparent way of requiring contract renewal. Demon is waiving the £271.32 debt in view of the difficulties, for which it apologises.

Questions of Cash cannot give individual advice. Please do not send original documents. Write to: Questions of Cash, The Independent, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS; cash@independent.co.uk.