Kokua Line

By Hildegaard Verploegen

Traveler's check company moves but refund coming

QUESTION: While going through my mother's things after her death, I found about $250 in Thomas Cook traveler's checks. I am her only child and am the executrix named in her will.

I wrote to Thomas Cook at the New York address included with the checks but my letter was returned to me by the post office because there no longer is a Thomas Cook office at that location and no forwarding address was available. I've called several agencies but no one seems to know how or where I can obtain a refund. What should I do?


ANSWER: Write "canceled" across the face of each check, enclose a letter and send the packet of material to the Thomas Cook Group Ltd., Refund Center, Encashments Help Desk, P.O. Box 36, Peterborough, U.K. (followed by the postal code) PE3 6SB.

The refund will be mailed back in U.S. dollars, said Barbara Rogers, vice president for public relations at the Thomas Cook office in New Jersey.

Rogers said Thomas Cook last year transferred the company headquarters from New Jersey to Peterborough in the United Kingdom. The New York address you found with your mother's things indicates those traveler's checks were purchased many years ago.

In the packet of material you mail, include a photocopy of your mother's death certificate and the address and name of the person the refund check should be made to. Keep a photocopy of the checks and your letter. If you need further information or have any problems, Rogers said you may call her at 1-800-223-2524, ext. 2. Rogers said your situation of a death and needing a refund for traveler's checks happens frequently.


Other items in Kokua Line in the Star-Bulletin involve city bicylcle lanes, a mahalo and a traffic alert.


Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686, fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802. Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com

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