Tag Archives: car insurance

Insurance, Injections and Irises

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Arkwright the Tortoise

Part Two of Today’s Posts. Part One is here.

I know car insurance has been going up because it’s been in the news a lot. I suspect it’s been in the news a lot because insurance companies have been drip-feeding us information to make us get used to the idea of a big price rise.

I’ve even had a note from my company to tell me the price rises are for reasons like the cost of complicated repairs, the cost of mechanic’s wages and various other factors that I translated to “blah blah, blah”. That’s even before you look at things like the greed and mendacity of insurance companies.

It’s gone up by about 40%.  Just at the moment, I can’t be bothered to get a new quote so, despite a good driving record and lack of claims I will just brace myself and take what the insurance company dishes out. It’s still, actually less than I was paying when I started to shop around five years ago. At that time my insurance company (Churchill) was treating me like a prize specimen that they had fattened up for the slaughter. I went with Swinton, who used to cover my business and household insurance and they cut the price considerably.  After the first year they  presented me with a massive price hike so I left and went to another company. As I say, they are still charging less than Churchill.

Yellow Flag

And that is another insight for the mythical student doing his/her future PhD on the lives of unfamous 21st Century poets.

I’ve had a text from the surgery asking for feedback on my visit today. I’ve also had several texts this week telling me to book in for this and that test. What with my normal blood tests, my quarterly blood tests,  three vaccinations, my regular rheumatology appointments, the X-Ray and the Urology referral, I really don’t have time to go to work. Unfortunately, despite regular stories in the press about high levels of benefit and the ease of benefit fraud, I don’t seem to be able to access all this cash and am actually better off working. This is, of course, supposed to be the case, as the benefit system is supposed to prevent starvation rather than provide an alternative to work. Next year, when I draw my pension, I will have plenty of time and will be able to devote myself to being a full time patient.

Meanwhile, I have a sore spot on the arm which had the flu vaccine and no reaction on the shingles arm. Sometimes I really am disappointed in the lack of drama that attends all this vaccination. I will be having a booster in two months, we will have to see what happens then.

Damsel Fly – Wilford

Photos are from May 2020 – our lockdown holiday, and include Arkwright the rambling tortoise. Julia saw him last summer but he is now presumably in a box, dreaming of next summer. It’s an interesting way of ensuring eternal sunlight – I may give it a try when I retire.

Car Insurance Time Again

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Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the little man comes up against the gargantuan greed of the insurance companies.

I had a letter last week. The premium for this year is several hundred pounds up on last year, despite the fact that I have hardly been anywhere in 2020. It is, however, still about £100 cheaper than the year before.

I went on the Swinton site, as I’ve used them as brokers for years, but the drop down menus didn’t work and I couldn’t get into my account. Life is too short to waste time on recalcitrant technology. If you can’t keep your site working you don’t get the business.

I went to ‘Go Compare’. I put a lot of details in. In fact, I could probably describe myself as a writer of biography after all the personal detail I put in. Then I came to a question about how much my last claim cost. Regular readers may recall that I had a rather annoying accident a couple of years ago. How am I supposed to know how much it cost? I pressed the “i” in the circle and it suggested ringing the insurance company. Yes, that seems a worthwhile use of my time.

So I went on ‘Compare the Market’. More biography. More stupid questions. More reminders not to tell lies. Finally, having finished the forms I pressed the button.

They came up with 78 possibilities. The cheapest one was a company called “Go, Skippy!” It was cheap, but the name is not inspiring and the excess is monstrous. It’s also owned by Arron Banks, and as I don’t want to fund his political donations I am glad to give it a miss.

For just over a hundred pounds more I have a choice of two well-known names – Churchill and Liverpool Victoria. Churchill always did well for me until they started racking the prices up, and LV offered a slightly better policy for £5 less. I was tempted by Churchill because they had always offered a great service, but they had ripped me off in the end, so I went for LV.

So, today, for me, the clear winners were ‘Compare the Market’ and Liverpool Victoria. It saved me £360 on the cost quoted by Swinton and Aviva so, irritating as it was, I just had a profitable hour at the computer.

Writing, Robbery and Reinsurance

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I had a go at writing my autobiography yesterday. It didn’t start off like that, but an hour later that was the result.

After receiving a quote from my car insurance provider, a number which I initially mistook for the National Debt of a medium-sized member of the UN, I decided it was time to take action. At over £800 it means I’m working for the best part of a month to cover the insurance, and that’s before tyres, fuel, car tax, MOT, servicing and all the other pleasures of car ownership.

To get a new quote I had to fill in a long and intrusive form about myself, followed by another for Julia. I noticed that not only do they seem to want more detail, but they seem to provide things as extras that used to be standard. It used to be enough, as I recall, to say you’d had a full license for 40 years – you didn’t have to search out the exact date.

It would have been quicker but I managed to wipe the form after doing three quarters of it and had to start again.

I managed to secure better cover and save nearly £400.

The moral of today’s post is that loyalty to an insurer does not pay.

It may be irritating to fill out the forms but it was worth it. I may worry a bit that the insurer is not as good as my previous one (as I did when changing breakdown cover) but insurers, when left to do their own thing, are generally not to be trusted with your money.

I used a picture of a Magpie because I was writing about insurance companies and couldn’t find a picture of a vulture.

The Downward Trend Continues

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Since I last wrote of my dull day things have showed little improvement. Nothing interesting has sold, nothing interesting has been loaded on eBay and nothing interesting has happened.

I say “nothing interesting” but had better qualify that. Nothing good and interesting has happened. I removed one of my dental crowns whilst chewing a caramel, which was interesting, particularly as I have a history of swallowing them.

I’ve wedged it back in for the moment as my six-monthly check up is due in a couple of weeks and I’m hoping to avoid a special trip to the dentist. It’s only come out twice since then, one of them being when I flicked it out with a toothpick.

Then there was the car insurance – it’s gone up by 15% so far and we haven’t even discussed my unfortunate brush with the speed camera. Someone is taking the mickey.

This morning I woke and as I sat on the edge of the bed I noticed blood dripping onto my legs. It was a bit of a surprise at the time but I have a history of nosebleeds so I’m not unduly worried. The main problem is getting the blood out of the pillowcase. (You may want to bookmark this page under “Famous Last Words” in case I’m wrong).

Minutes later things took a turn for the worse when I was informed that Julia was ill. She did this by groaning dramatically, making a sweeping arm gesture and croaking “I’m ill.”

She slept all day and has consistently refused food so it’s quite serious. I hope she gets well soon because I had to make my own sandwiches this morning.

Finally, I had a rejection on my last haiku submission. That was depressing for about twenty minutes, but after that I had plenty to do and forgot about it until now. I’m having a think now, not sure whether it’s part of the downward trend or something I should zone out.

According to my current thought process every rejection brings an acceptance one step nearer, so a rejection is actually a good thing.