'My money ended up in a stranger's account' You had been assured that any money from a source that had not been told about the change would bounce back to the sender. Nevertheless, the money at issue - sent by Bacs by another financial provider - had gone into a stranger's Nationwide account. One would have supposed that account reference numbers were so arranged that old Portman details did not match current Nationwide ones. In fact, I understand that of the 11 digits only eight matched. To my mind this makes this matter even worse. As for the names of the account holders, I understand they did not correlate at all. On this aspect the building society had told you that the system "does not permit the account numbers to be cross-matched to the account names." Surely cross-checking should be part of a financial provider's daily grind and money should not be credited to accounts where the numbers only partly tally and the names not at all. Then you were told that, in order to transfer the funds to your account, the society had to have the other account holder's authority. Nationwide never received this and it now turns out that the account had been closed, hardly fortuitously I suspect, shortly after your payment had been credited to it. My intervention has led to £155 being sent to you. This includes £75 for goodwill and came with not much by way of explanation despite my efforts to acquire one. Nationwide said: "There is no possibility of a repeat of this situation for this or any other former Portman accounts in the future as these sort codes no longer work. It means any payments will be returned to the person who issued them, rather than being forwarded to Nationwide. Isn't that what you were told before this happened? Why no winnings? I haven't had a Premium Bond win for ages. Is Ernie asleep? MC Devon Ernie, an acronym for Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, is still busy generating numbers. It spends four or so hours each month doing this while accredited observers see that nothing untoward is happening. Once done, numbers go on to a disc, which is copied. Then they are matched up with eligible bonds. For one reason or another, often because change of address details have not been provided to National Savings & Investments, which administers them, some prizes are not cashed. Premium Bond owners with a holder's number can check online at nsandi.com how their bonds have fared in the monthly draw. Anyone fearing they have missed out on a win can write with full details including the bond numbers to Premium Bonds, National Savings & Investments, Blackpool FY3 9YP. Or check in the supplement to the London Gazette, which comes out around October every year and is available at Crown Post Offices. My missing pension It has become clear from correspondence with the Pension Service and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that my state pension receipts, which are paid each month for four weeks, result in my receiving only 48 payments each year instead of 52. This also applies to my partner. Both the Pension Service and HMRC insist that we receive 52 payments and that we do not understand how the system works. We understand only too well. HMRC also insists on taxing me on the 52 payments. I have withheld tax on the four weeks which I haven't received. I should be most grateful if you could intervene on my behalf since, if my partner and I are being defrauded of four weeks' pension entitlement each year and paying tax on it, there must be millions of others in a similar situation. NL Norfolk The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) admits it should have quelled your fears, which turn out to be unfounded, sooner. In respect of that, a special payment of £25 has been awarded to you for the inconvenience caused by the delay in responding to your letters. If your partner has the stamina to pursue this, she can cite your case to see if the DWP will give her £25 as well. As for the main issue, it turns out to be a damp squib. In October 2010 and September 2011 double payments were made to make good the four-week shortfalls. It only remains to wonder why you did not pick up on this yourselves. Please address letters to: Jessica, Your Money, The Daily Telegraph, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT. Because of the volume of mail received, it is not possible to respond to every letter and correspondence cannot be entered into. Please do not send original documents or stamped and addressed envelopes. Responsibility, legal or otherwise, for answers given cannot be accepted. Cases currently with an ombudsman, going through a court of law or sent to other columns will not be considered. In addition I cannot take up issues when the writer is a third party, other than in exceptional circumstances. I cannot respond to emails. A full postal address, a signature and daytime telephone number are needed.