Hi to you both, this isn't pretty but it works - this is what I have

ALTER   Procedure DontUseCursors
As

DECLARE @ClaimRef varchar(10)
DECLARE @MasterRef varchar(10)


SELECT  @ClaimRef = Min(p.ClaimRef)
	 FROM PIFTest p
	

WHILE (@ClaimRef is not null)
    BEGIN
	Select @MasterRef = MasterRef from Claim Where ClaimRef = @ClaimRef
	print @ClaimRef + '    ' + @MasterRef

	SELECT  @ClaimRef = Min(p.ClaimRef)
	 FROM PIFTest p
	Where p.ClaimRef > @ClaimRef
    END

please feel free to show me a better way - thanks again to you both