1 EAGLETON NOTES: Thankful Thursday

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Thursday 15 May 2014

Thankful Thursday


I am not a Grumpy Old Man.  I'm not old yet for a start.  However this evening whilst trying to log into a bank account I received the following (amongst many other) message:

I have no need of an overdraft nor any loans and the account is not a premier one with benefits related to income so why do I need to tell them my income?  The problem is that if you don't answer the questions you can't access your accounts.  Whyyyyyy? 

The last few days I have felt overwhelmed.  So many emotions have been churning around.  The number of things which need attention, the amount of clutter to be sorted, the things I want to achieve and the planning for the summer have all seemed to be much bigger tasks than they are in reality.  And I've been visiting friends and none is as fit as when I left 6 months ago.  

I need to change my house insurance.  I have been with the same insurer for years.  I am, as a consequence, paying over twice as much as quotes I have had from other reputable companies and nearly £1000 more than a friend with a larger house in an urban area is paying with an equally reputable company.  Now I haven't checked the wording of all the policies.  Have you?  Of course you haven't.  Why?  Well one reason could be that if your car is insured with Endsleigh the policy will run to 37,674 words.  That is more than Orwell's classic novel Animal Farm.  Apparently 73% of people do not read their car insurance policies.

On the bright side Nissan is trialling a new 'self-cleaning' paint that's resistant to rain and dirt.  That should cheer us all up no end.

Oh yes.  It's Thursday.  I should be thankful.  I am.  There is an hour and forty minutes (BST) to go until it's tomorrow.  There is a sporting chance that I will have survived another day.

29 comments:

  1. Hope you make it to Fabulous Friday GB :)

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    1. Whoopee Carol. I have. It's a morning of lowering (as in glowering not getting lower) clouds and blustery, cold winds. It's summer here. It's colder than it is in Napier at the moment where it's almost winter. Adjustment is taking longer than usual.

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  2. As someone once opined, GB, it's not the elephants in life that get us down, it's the gnats. Here's to a bug and elephant free summer for you. In the meantime, sending hugs, xoxox

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    1. There's a lot in that Carol. I've always tried not to sweat the small stuff (and, lets face it it's mostly small stuff) but sometimes the gnats just gnaw. Thanks for the hugs. They are always appreciated. I think I shall have to start differentiating the Carols in my Blogland.

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    2. GB, you can call me DeeDee if you like -- that's what my granddaughter started calling me the minute she could talk. xoxox

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    3. Sorry I didn't respond to this Carol aka DeeDee. For some reason I love that moniker so I shall happily think of you as DeeDee from henceforth.

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  3. Insurance seems like a license to print money. And then try to make a claim!

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    1. Red I've been very fortunate with claims to insurance companies. I shall do a post in praise of them.

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  4. I trust you made it and are around to read my comment on Friday morning...
    It is said that the biggest lie nowadays is when you tick the box on things that say I have read the small print and agree to the terms..Do you know what you have agreed to when you signed up to Google??

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    1. Bruv, I did and I am. This comment is the manifestation of that event. Actually, to be pedantic, I don't think it's a manifestation because isn't that supposed to be a physical proof of a theoretical event? My making it until today is not theoretical. I really have. I must look that up. In the meantime I shall leave this drivel because it will make someone scratch his or her head (metaphorically) and that's always fun. I decided that when I signed up for Google I was selling them what remains of my soul so wotthehellarchiewotthehell.

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  5. I wonder if they have tested the new 'self-cleaning' paint on Northland roads yet? I'd sign up for some of that even without reading the small print!! Hope you are enjoying Friday.

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    1. That would be a real test Pauline. I suspect that they will test it somewhere really clean. Friday has started. That's a Good Thing. I'll let you know once the second hour has lapsed how successful it's been.

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  6. I'm not surprised you are feeling overwhelmed after returning home but I am sad to hear it. You are bound to have mixed emotions about all you are dealing with and the impact it will have. Hopefully it will pass and your buoyant optimism will return quickly. It's what I tell myself anyway and the hope keeps me trucking along!
    I think investigating insurance is healthy.... And power and phone companies.... I'm sure they expect us to get complacent and pay and pay...
    Take care :)

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    1. Fiona my occasional lapses into feeling overwhelmed are, fortunately, very few and far between and yesterday was just a Not So Good Day (I can't go so far as to say it was a Bad Day) and it's past and gone. You are so right. I phoned BT (British Telecom who are our national phone and broadband provider) when I got home because my broadband was limited on my plan to 40Gb a month (which I have never used). It's an old plan which doesn't exist now for new customers all of which have unlimited broadband. I asked them to remove the cap. Not only did their representative do that but he also reduced my monthly payment by several pounds without my even asking. So my Really Good Deal became a Really Better Deal.

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  7. If you forward your bank details I will fill in the forms for you. It's an almost free service I offer.

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    1. Thanks Adrian. You'll need my password too. It's DyTiWbY? And the clue is 1944.

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  8. Terms and conditions are deliberately written in a way to discourage (potential) customers from reading it - that is a known fact, in spite of it being illegal, at least in Germany, where the law says that such documents have to be "understandable" for the averagely intelligent reader. But even if you try to read the law regulating business terms & conditions, the average reader will find said law hard to understand in the first place. So, most people simply give up; I am surprised it says 73 % never read their policies. I'd have expected the number to be more somewhere around 95 %.

    Good to know you are feeling better today, Graham. Considering the permanent change (sounds contradictory in itself, doesn't it?) and all it involves, it is very understandable. Also, blustering cold winds in what is supposed to be nearly summer can contribute to one's not feeling exactly brilliant.

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    1. I agree, Meike. I, too, would have expected the figure to be nearer 95% and 99.9% for the Endsleigh policy. My car policy is much simpler and possibly why the company I've been with for many years (NFU Mutual) comes out top in the surveys year after year. And, yes, I'm feeling much better today thank you.

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  9. Oh Graham - do shut up! We all know that you are the least grumpy person we know. Have a glass of red and chill! Yes I know it is only 11.18 BUT it is 6pm somewhere in the world. x

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    1. Aw. Thanks Pat. I might pass on the glass of red for the moment. I'll have to go and drive the car home from the garage later on. There's a whole evening ahead though!

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  10. The words to Captain and Tennille's song "Shop Around" came to mind when I read this post....don't be overwhelmed....take some time out to "shop around" for the best rates for your insurance.
    I've changed insurances over the years because I wanted the best rate available....best of luck in your search.

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    1. Captain and Tennille - wow, Virginia, there's a blast from the past. Thee funny thing is that although I can remember that they were very famous I can't name a single one of their songs. This is to be the year of taking stock of things like insurance and so on. Whilst I've been in NZ it's been difficult for many reasons not least of which has been the fact that most of my insurances expired annually whilst I was away.

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  11. GB, you sound as though you need a pint - or a tot - of something comforting..?

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    1. Last night I needed all three Frances. Tonight I'm on top of the world (or as near the top as anyone would be who had just been told that the sensor his car needed to get the ABS working was £1500) and a glass of red will suffice.


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  12. When I got round to reading this blog post I already know you survived well into Friday evening at least. :) I think if my bank asked me for all that info just to let me access my accounts, I'd change bank. However - I suspect they might already know (and might even have told me so in small print). A while back I received a ridiculouse questionnaire from our equivalent of DWP, asking about three dozen questions about my experience of my last contact with my case worker there. As I haven't had (or needed) any personal contact with them in years, I did not send in the questionnaire. After a few weeks I received another copy. And then another. I gave up and sent the third one back, ticking "no opinion" for every question. I hope that will make them happy.

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    1. If your answers make 'them' happy Monica then they are very different to those employed in the DWP in the UK.

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    2. Just being ironic (as I think you understand). The questions were impossible because they all presupposed that there HAD been personal contact with a specific case worker about something - when in reality I've just been receiving standard "anonymous" notice each year of the minor changes in my pension according to inflation and taxes etc.

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  13. JenPen who works for an insurance claims dept says that automatically renewing your policy is always dearer than taking out a new one. As for NFU - they are the only company we have found that offer cover abroad for an unlimited period.

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    1. Yes Sue you have mentioned that before but my peripatetic circumstances made it difficult. I agree about NFU. My car has been with them since AG started up the agency here. My house may well be come December.

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