British Gas took £3,483 from my account for a new boiler... when I'd already paid: SALLY SORTS IT

During our annual gas boiler service in May, the British Gas Homecare engineer said dangerous levels of carbon monoxide were detected. In short, a new boiler was recommended for which I paid a deposit of £387 on my debit card.The boiler was installed a couple of weeks later. I was emailed an invoice for the £3,483 balance that included instructions on how to pay by bank transfer. This I did.To my horror, two days later BG took the same amount again from my debit card. Despite my best efforts, I can’t get the overpayment back and it’s been going on for nearly two months. Please help.T.E., Dagenham, east London British Gas Homecare charged a customer twice for a new boiler leaving them £3,483 out of pocketSally Hamilton replies: When you initially complained about the double payment, it emerged BG had automatically taken the balance for the installation from the card you had used for the deposit.BG said you would have been forewarned by the installer, though you maintain this never happened. You say you followed the guidance on the invoice received by email.Despite reassuring you that the mistaken debit would soon be refunded to your card, the transaction failed. BG then said it would arrange for a cheque to be issued instead, but when you queried its whereabouts two weeks later, it emerged no such cheque had been raised.You almost blew a gasket with frustration and contacted me. Following my intervention, a cheque was finally raised, but maddeningly this was refused by your bank.It emerged from BG’s investigations that the cheque refund failed because you had raised a chargeback dispute with your bank regarding the unexpected card payment.With the disputed £3,483 now sitting in limbo between your bank and BG’s, the cheque could not be cashed. This is because you could have ended up with a double reimbursement.Once you were alerted to this blockage, you quickly cancelled the card dispute.This finally unclogged the process and an incredible 58 days after the whole sorry saga began you got your money back.BG maintains its heating installer would have arranged for a link to be emailed to you in which you could authorise both the deposit payment and at the same time confirm the balance would be collected from the same card.The confusion appears to have arisen because the paperwork provided also stated that payment could be made via bank transfer.I find this baffling myself and urge customers to be on the alert if wishing to pay the balance with a different method to avoid the risk of a cat and mouse battle to get an overpayment back. BG told me it understood your frustration and gave a goodwill gesture of £300 for the inconvenience.Your bank paid £100 for failing to clearly explain the implications of the chargeback dispute that contributed to the muddle.You thanked me enthusiastically for fighting your corner.Aviva won't let me cash in my £34,000 pensionIn early April I asked for my meagre £34,000 pension with Aviva to be paid out in full. I am 75 years old and really need the money for house repairs and other household bills.I followed the required process for cashing it in. All I’ve been getting for months now is one promise after another that matters will be resolved imminently. I feel I am being fobbed off. Please help.M.C., Address suppliedSally Hamilton replies: Taking five months and counting to cash in a simple personal pension isn’t acceptable.I couldn’t understand why one of the biggest pension firms in Britain was stalling over such a straightforward request.It should typically take just four to six weeks to complete such a transaction.The latest excuse for dragging its heels was staff needed to speak to your lawyer, but they gave no explanation as to why. Your lawyer heard nothing from them. At your wit’s end, you asked for my support. When I contacted Aviva, the procrastination stopped and finally there was rapid action.Within a day it contacted you and the cash was in your bank account. The sum paid wasn’t the full value of your pot but nearly £10,000 less. This level of deduction is normal, I’m afraid. Let me know Waiting until 67 to get your state pension can be tricky if you’ve stopped work already. Are you in this position? I’d like to hear about how you’re handling your finances in early retirement. Email sally@dailymail.co.uk When a pension plan is encashed in full, the provider is obliged to take off emergency tax before handing over the funds.The system confusingly assumes that someone receiving a lump sum like this is going to receive the same amount each month for the remainder of the tax year (you wish) and calculates the tax owed on that basis. This includes the provider using only one twelfth of the pension customer’s annual personal allowance (currently £12,570) when working out the sums.But all is not lost. Assuming you are not a massively high earner, you will be able to reclaim overpaid tax. You can do this through your self-assessment tax return at the end of the tax year.Better still, you can reclaim it straight away by completing form P53Z available on the gov.uk website.What you get back will depend on your other income, including the state pension.Aviva admitted your transaction should not have taken so long to complete and apologised.A spokesman says: ‘We are very sorry that M.C. experienced a delay in receiving his pension payment and recognise the frustration and inconvenience this has caused him.‘While additional verification checks were required as part of our regulatory obligations, we acknowledge the claim took longer than expected and this fell short of the standards we normally provide.‘We can confirm the payment has now been made along with £300 compensation in recognition of the inconvenience caused.‘We are reviewing the circumstances of this case to identify any lessons and improvements for the future.’You told me you were ‘most grateful’ and that you wished you’d contacted me sooner. Straight to the point My mother died in April, but BT still owes her £22.76. I have phoned BT a few times, giving each person I speak to my card details for the refund. They each promised to deal with it – and told me I would be paid within seven days – but I’ve not received anything.E.D., TwickenhamBT apologises. You will now be refunded the £22.76.*** Two fraudulent transactions were made on my Monzo account – for £25 and £3.99 – within 90 minutes. Monzo has accused me of making the transactions but I have never allowed anyone access or authorised access to my card.G.M., KentMonzo apologises. It has refunded you in full and given you £200 compensation.*** I left British Gas in June and I’m still waiting for a final bill and the return of a £290.75 credit balance. After three months of contacting customer service, I was told the final bill hadn’t been generated due to a ‘technical issue’.I logged a customer complaint in August and despite being promised a resolution I have not been refunded.G.G., BuckinghamshireBritish Gas apologises. It has refunded you the credit balance and provided a goodwill gesture. This is Money podcast