We had a disaster last July when our American-style fridge-freezer exploded, setting fire to the downstairs of our house and causing substantial damage.

We had insurance with RSA via our Nationwide bank account, which was brilliant, and rebuilding finally started in January this year after we’d spent weeks clearing the house and its contents.

We’ve not been able to live at home since the fire and have been staying in Airbnbs, a hotel and with family. Soon we will move into a rental house until November this year.

We contacted various utility companies and the council to explain we wouldn’t be living in the house for some time. 

The only provider we have been unable to resolve matters with is Sky, which has provided our television subscription for the past 21 years. 

We asked if we could freeze our subscription until we moved back in, but it said this was not possible. It only offered to reduce the cost by removing our sports subscription.

Please help.

M.R., Uxbridge, Middlesex.

Sally Hamilton replies: I empathise with the stress you and your wife have been through following the damage to your home. 

Having suffered a serious burst pipe incident in my own home a couple of years ago I understand the hassle and worry involved with having to move out for months while repairs are made. 

There is a lot more admin involved than people might think.

Where a home is uninhabitable, many councils will ‘zero rate’ homes for council tax purposes until work has been completed, meaning they do not have to pay.

When you made an application for this, it was refused initially and only allowed on appeal. You had your gas capped off so that no charges would mount up in your absence. 

You still must pay the electricity standing charge, but your insurer will meet the bills for usage by the building contractors. Your broadband deal with EE was easily ended for the duration with no charges.

To your surprise it was Sky that gave you the runaround. Offering a reduced number of channels to keep down your ongoing bills was laughable. You got nowhere with Sky, so you just stopped your payments. 

A problem then arose because Sky said you owed £120 (plus a £10 late payment charge) for early termination, and this led to the unpaid bill being passed to debt collectors.

I quickly stepped in and asked Sky to reconsider your request for some breathing space in your contract. 

It explained that while pausing it is not an option (as its billing system cannot cope) you should have been told you could cancel the contract without charge because of your circumstances, and then restart later.

A Sky spokesman says: ‘While we’re unable to pause active services, Mr R should have been given the option to cancel his package as an alternative, and

we apologise this didn’t happen. We’ve cleared all outstanding balances on the account and have reached out to the customer to offer support should they wish to restart their services in future.’

Sky also paid you £100 as a goodwill gesture, which you are forwarding to the London Fire Brigade Welfare Fund.

You said your gripe with Sky was not just about money but poor service. You told me: ‘I hope that Sky will change its systems to assist subscription holders who end up in situations like ours.’ I second that.

HSBC has frozen my account with £20,000 in it

My husband and I are residents of France and have a joint account with HSBC UK which was frozen because it had not been used for a while. 

We’ve been trying to unblock it for several months, but nothing we do seems to help us access our £20,000. Can you help?

C.H., Nice, France.

Sally Hamilton replies: When you contacted HSBC in December last year, you were asked to send a proof of address in the form of an energy bill. 

This was fine for proving your husband’s address, as all the utilities were in his name. You therefore had to find an alternative method of proving who you were.

After checking the options with HSBC over the phone, you posted a copy of your residency card (confirming your home address in France), which was certified by your local town hall. 

This was rejected. You then sent a proof of residency document, which included your address, issued by the Spanish Consulate in Marseille (you are a Spanish national). You even had it translated officially at a cost of €30, but this was also rejected.

Next, you sent a bank statement showing your address, certified by a notaire (a form of solicitor) at a cost of €50 – also rejected.

Each time you questioned the reason but no one was able to explain why these documents weren’t good enough.

When you then got an email saying that if you didn’t unblock the account, it would be considered ‘dormant’ and the money could eventually go to charity, you decided to bring me in. I asked HSBC to give you clearer direction on how to access your money.

The bank gave me further background, saying it issued a dormancy letter to you in March 2025, advising that the account had been inactive for two years and that the bank needed to check its ownership.

It added that the balance would only be transferred to charity after 15 years of inactivity. Even if this happens, customers always have the right to be paid back the full amount by the bank.

All banks are increasingly vigilant about accounts that have been unused for a long period because they become higher risk for fraud. This is why banks follow rigorous procedures to verify the real owner.

HSBC explained to me that your various forms of proof were rejected due to a slight mismatch with your name, compared to the name on the bank account. 

But it confirmed that, despite this, it was now confident that you were the genuine customer and agreed you needn’t provide any more documentation.

A spokesperson says: ‘We’re sorry that Mrs H has faced issues when attempting to reactivate her dormant bank account. We have now been in touch with the customer to resolve this.’

I imagine your situation can arise frequently for couples, where one person pays the household bills. To avoid potential difficulties, I’d recommend arranging for at least one bill to be put in the other person’s name.

• 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.