My business account has been frozen for 82 days and I can't get at my £700,000: SALLY SORTS IT

Anna Money, which holds the business account for our property rental company, has left more than £700,000 of our money inaccessible for 82 days. It froze our account and we cannot access a penny.We supplied every piece of information it requested, including source-of-funds evidence, but it decided to close our account and on July 30 confirmed it was working to return the funds ‘as quickly as possible’. That was 40 days ago.A.F., BoltonSally Hamilton replies: You were in a state of high anxiety when you got in touch as the sums stuck in the closed account were needed urgently to complete the purchase of a rental property just a few days later. Failure to meet the completion date and terms risked potential losses for your business of nearly £100,000. Anna Money has frozen the business account of a reader's property rental company meaning they cannot access any of their cashYou told me you repeatedly asked payments firm ANNA, which stands for Absolutely No Nonsense Admin, to explain why it was delaying, and when your money would be transferred to another account that you hold. Even though you had been a customer for about three years, it offered no timescale. Nor had it explained why it seemed to take against your custom.You sent solicitors’ letters to both ANNA and to PayrNet, the regulated payments institution that manages the money held in the former’s accounts.These urged action in light of your pressing deadline and potential losses. Getting nowhere, you asked for my help.Banks and electronic payments providers are within their rights to close any account, whether it be because of a lack of information from the customer, the need to meet fraud or money-laundering rules, or if there are other regulatory or legal obligations.Sometimes they might simply decide a customer is not economically attractive. Whatever the reason, it can cause serious upset and inconvenience.New rules brought in on April 28 mean customers opening accounts since then must be given longer notice (90 rather than 60 days) of a closure and more detailed reasons, where they can legally be disclosed, for termination. Your account was set up well before these changes.You had experienced no issues previously with ANNA but something obviously caused it to change its view of the relationship following the recent transfer in three tranches that total just over £700,000 into the account. Let Me Know Has a property near you been turned into a house of multiple occupancy (HMO) – or do you fear one could be converted soon – and how has it affected you? Email sally@daily mail.co.uk This was you preparing to buy the block of student flats. You said you didn’t normally deposit such large sums, so thought this may have caused ANNA to act as it did. Despite extensive answers to its due diligence requests the account was shuttered.You reluctantly accepted that, but assumed because it requested alternative account details from you (which you provided) that you would be reimbursed in time to make your impending property purchase.With the completion deadline looming three days after we spoke in mid-September, and a 10 per cent deposit of £63,750 at risk of being lost, along with a non-refundable £29,374 auction reservation fee (and potentially lost rental income) I asked ANNA and PayrNet what had gone wrong and to transfer the money.Both remained tight-lipped though soon after I got in touch, things began to move quickly, and £701,626 was paid just in time for your purchase deadline.ANNA says: ‘We can’t go into the detail of the checks we carry out or how they’re concluded, so can’t comment on the specifics.‘Like all regulated financial institutions, PayrNet is required by law to carry out checks on accounts and payments. Those are confidential and that protects customers as much as anyone. We’re glad this has been resolved.’PayrNet says: ‘We take legal and regulatory obligations extremely seriously. While we’re unable to comment on individual customer matters, we work to resolve concerns as quickly as we can.’When I approached you several times for a response to this excellent development, I was hit by radio silence. Perhaps you were too busy with your transaction.In any case, you’re welcome!Hotels.com won't refund me after I accidentally double-booked On May 28, I booked a three-night stay in August at a hotel in Prague via Hotels.com. I booked two rooms for two people at a cost of £576.Due to a glitch either with the hotel’s booking system or my John Lewis NewDay credit card, I made two extra bookings in error. I can’t get a refund for the additional charges of £1,151.B.C., North LondonSally Hamilton replies: When you made your booking for you and a friend, you first tried to use your John Lewis card to pay. The department store’s credit cards are run by a third-party company called NewDay.The first two attempts to pay did not appear to secure the booking as the screen went blank after you’d tapped in details.Only when you tried a third time using your NatWest credit card instead did the transaction show properly on the screen.You thought nothing more of it until three days later when you checked your statements. Two payments were taken from the John Lewis card as well as the sum paid on the NatWest card.On contacting Hotels.com, it cancelled your two unwanted bookings, but it declined to reimburse you as these were ‘non-refundable’ deals. Unhappy at this decision, you made a chargeback request on the John Lewis card.The money was initially returned to you but following an investigation it clawed it back saying the transaction was valid.You explained that as a nurse, you could not afford to lose this kind of money. I felt you had been unfairly treated and asked Hotels.com to investigate.It asserted it couldn’t help as the hotel had refused a refund.I’m pleased to say Hotels.com thought better of its previous response and agreed you would receive £1,151 after all. Straight to the point In May, DHL collected a package with one of my paintings to send to a friend in New York. DHL said it had been delivered but my friend said no package had been left for her.I discovered DHL had sent it to a courier to send it to the US but it needed my friend to pay customs duty. My friend never received an email asking for this money and now neither of us have the painting.B.H., West Sussex.Evri, which has merged with DHL eCommerce, apologises and says your parcel is now on its way back to you after being held in customs. It says when payment isn’t made the parcel is returned to the sender.*** I decided to cash in some of my investments and buy an annuity. At the start of June, I accepted a Standard Life quote to pay £80,191 for a 15-year income of £5,787.I was later told the rates were wrong and I would get an £5,812 income. The day it was meant to ‘go live’ passed but I hadn’t heard anything. I have been told by Standard Life there is no record of me, even though I have parted with £80,000.J.S., Gloucestershire.Standard Life apologises for the delay and has paid you compensation. It says you are now receiving your annuity and it has been backdated.*** I missed my flight with British Airways in March this year after being sent to hospital with a severe bacterial infection.I found out one month later you could claim back Air Passenger Duty directly from your airline if you don’t fly. After many failed attempts at calling BA, it finally asked for proof of my illness. I sent it a photo of my hospital records via email, but it couldn’t access the file. Please help me.D.M., BlackpoolBA apologises and has refunded £159.80. Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email sally@dailymail.co.uk ¿ include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given. 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