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My first job for today was to ring the HMRC tax office. There is lots of information online, but it never quite answers the question you have, so I patiently waited on the line for over an hour to have my call answered. The wait was eased by coffee and toast served by Brian, an addition I’ve realised is very important when you are waiting to talk to the tax man.

Finally I got through, and spoke to a very helpful lady who told me that she couldn’t help me but I needed to speak to a different help desk, the pensionwise help desk. I was not despondent, I just took the number, thanked her for her help, and then redialled, after all it wasn’t her fault that I’d phoned the wrong help desk number. Luckily this help desk answered pretty much straight away, and the advisor knew her subject thoroughly. She was able to answer my questions quickly and efficiently so I felt that my efforts had paid off, as I was confident I had my answer.