Many, many thanks. That is genuinely useful. The lender was Natwest. I am fairly sure they will owe me something one way or another, but they do seem surprisingly keen to cooperate so far. Also Barclaycard. I think they may have decided it is a lost cause from their point of view. So, they might as well try and score a few brownie points for customer service.

I am probably a financial simpleton, but I have only just woken up to the likelihood that probably have been sold PPI unwittingly because I am lazy about reading small print! I probably am due some compensation from Natwest and Barclaycard, I am wondering whether house insurance, whether connected to a mortgage or not, might have had some PPI clause in it. When I bought a house in 1980 Natwest made taking out Sun Aliance Home Insurance a condition of the loan, and I stayed with them when I bought another house without a mortgage. Does anyone know whether it is likely that PPI applied in these cases? Unfortunately I no longer own either of the houses and have discarded all documentation pertaining to them.