12 replies to this topic

[T_Shirt]

I've only been a member on this forum for a couple of days & already I've got a rant to let off some steam.

This rant is about insurance, a subject I'm sure that is dear to all of your hearts.

Yesterday, I was checking out my online banking statement & I saw the monthly household insurance payment with Lloyds TSB. I thought that it looked a bit higher than it was when I took it out & on checking back through the statements, they put it up by £50 a year back in August. They had not sent me any renewal forms or even bothered to tell me it was up for renewal, they just upped the price hoping I would not notice (& I didnt for 5 months)

Today I jumped on the bike, rode into town ready for a rant at the bank about the insurance & this is what happened.

Went into TSB.
Only one counter open.
10 minute wait (bike on yellow line)
I had to deposit some money, done that & then said to the banker that I wanted to speak to someone about household insurance.
She said "how can I help.
I said "I want to cancel"
She said "one moment please" & started typing on her computer.
She then said "thats it, its all done & canceled for you"

Flippin ek...not even a "why do you want to cancel" or "I'll see if I can better the quote"...Nothing...And there was me thinking that I was going to give them a piece of my mind.

I walked out of the bank more angry than when I went in (didn't get a ticket for being on a yellow line though)

[BikerGran]

Yup, they don't give a shit!

But you'll prolly get a phone call soon saying "I note that you've cancelled your home insurance blah blah blah"

Hope you've organised some more PDQ?

[T_Shirt]

Your be right about the phone call, that bound to happen in the next couple of days.

THB I'm not too bothered about having house insurance. We live in a coucil house so only have to worry about the contents & going by the last time I claimed off insurance about 7 years ago for a digital camera I dropped & getting fobbed off by them giving me a fraction of what the camera was worth, Im wondering if its worth having at all (wife might think differently though )

[BikerGran]

When you start to add up all your stuff - it's be a hell of a disaster if you lost it all!

[T_Shirt]

Yeah I suppose your right.

I just find insurace companies ( & banks, I'll get onto that story later) bloody annoying & if they can, they will get out of paying up or offer much less than the items are worth.

[Womble_Lancs]

I'd definitely recommend getting contents cover. Years ago, a girl I worked with had a house fire and lost everything she owned, and didn't have insurance. She was in a right mess, and nearly had a nervous breakdown.

Our local council does contents insurance for tenants. Maybe yours does too?

[ANEMAL]

am with a local housing comp and they do own house contests at nice price etc

[T_Shirt]

Womble_Lancs, on 04 January 2012 - 06:49 PM, said:

Our local council does contents insurance for tenants. Maybe yours does too?

Mmmm, I'll have to look into that, I've not heard anything about my coucil doing that but its worth a try.
I know that I'm going to have to have contents insurance (the wife will force me ) so I'll also have a look on Go Compare & have to suffer the next 3 days of the phone ringing constantly with insurance companies trying to get my hard earnt off me

[T_Shirt]

Just a thought, I know that some insurance companies cover shed & garden contents, I wonder if any of them will cover my bikes if my bike tent blows over in this weather

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[Womble_Lancs]

T_Shirt, on 04 January 2012 - 07:12 PM, said:

I'll also have a look on Go Compare & have to suffer the next 3 days of the phone ringing constantly with insurance companies trying to get my hard earnt off me

I always put in a fake phone number because it pisses me off when they bombard me with fake phone calls. 07000 000 000 usually does the trick.

[BikerGran]

Yes I always put in a fake number if I don't want people phoning me.

[FatAl]

I used to put in Stoke City Football club (for no apparent reason), but now I put the number of a sex shop in. That way it flags up on the calls. I've tried putting a premium rate number in there but their software disallows that !

[FatAl]

Also, before I forget, I've started going with a insurance broker I was recommended by a friend. He may cost a wee bit more, but it saves you trolling through all the sites to get a good quote and if the sh*t hits the fan, he deals with the fall-out. We had the house we rent out in Maltby broken into while vacant and they nicked the boiler & copper piping so there was water leaking everywhere and the broker was the one who suggested what we could claim for, told us what documents we needed to give him, and sorted it all out for us. Because of that we now get him to quote for everything.

Car/bike insurance as well. Any of the internet/direct line etc are a nightmare to deal with, so I used to use a nice chap in Stoke who would sort it all out for me. I don't use him now simply because he got a bit too expensive as he couldn't do low mileage deals or classic car insurance. But when I did have a prang it was great dealing with them as they are not the Insurance company and trying not to pay out, they are on your side (at least these guys were). I would seriously ask around and get mates to recommend a broker.

Al