Your problems

Margaret: Repo-Smart is run by property businessman Satnam Punglia, who says it helps property owners avoid repossession. You can ask anyone where they obtained your name by making a 'subject access request' under the Data Protection Act. They can charge £10 for administration but should volunteer the information without your having to go to these lengths. Punglia says yours was one of a sample number of addresses chosen at random for a mailshot he sent out 'to gauge market response'. He cannot pinpoint exactly where he got your address from, which indicates a failure in his administration. But he confirms that he has removed it from his records and says he has not sent out any more such postcards. He apologises for the distress.

You can minimise the amount of junk mail you receive by opting to be on the edited - rather than the full - version of the electoral roll and by signing up to the Mailing Preference Service (mpsonline.org.uk; 0845 703 4599).

RBS lost the plot with our theatre company's account

In April, I applied to open a Royal Bank of Scotland Treasurer's Account for my theatre company. On 16 June, I took the paperwork, as instructed, to a branch in Glasgow. I handed in two forms of ID. The branch posted copies to head office and said the application would take three to five days. After a week, I rang for an update. It could not trace the application but said someone would call me back. A few days later, the branch said all the documents had been returned. They sent them off again. On 14 July, RBS said there was still no trace of the application and I should reapply. I was more worried about what had happened to the ID. The man I originally spoke to had left and I was promised that his replacement would call me back later the same day. I have not heard anything since. We need the account opened urgently as we have to deposit money from a recent show and pay our creditors.AC, Edinburgh

Margaret: You have been remarkably patient with RBS. The process became confused because you applied for the account in one Glasgow branch and completed the process in another. You are entitled to do that and it should have made no difference but it is why your paperwork, including your ID, travelled backwards and forwards. It was never lost, says the bank, but it wasn't where it should have been. Eventually the bank sent you a chequebook but with no covering letter or phone call to explain. If the bank had kept in touch and explained the problem, you would at least have known what was going on, even though it took a long time. The bank says it can understand your frustration and has sent you £100 to apologise.

Closedown for our TV licence

We tried to cancel our TV licence in January when grandmother moved in. She has a free licence which she transferred to our address. We were told we were too late to stop the transaction but could get the money refunded. No money has arrived.ST, Swindon

Margaret: TV Licensing says your request was not processed correctly due to an administrative error. I think that means it wasn't processed at all. It has now sent a cheque for £135.50.

· Email Margaret Dibben at money.writes@observer.co.uk or write to Margaret Dibben, Money Writes, The Observer, 3-7 Herbal Hill, London EC1R 5EJ and include a telephone number. Do not enclose SAEs or original documents. Letters are selected for publication and we cannot give personal replies. The newspaper accepts no legal responsibility for advice.

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