I pestered twice and then got a response this morning. It appears that the delay was caused by the query being passed to the New Business Team. They have been the weak link in the chain for all my dealings recently and will be the main focus of a forthcoming letter requesting they improve their service or lower customers' expectations accordingly.

The other more generic CS ones I have subsequently fired off this have been dealt with in a timely fashion and with good, clear responses.

Swings & roundabouts