Preparedness for when

daz278

Still without the internet. I just posted on broadband thread..talk talk sent me new router but still no access. By accepting router im worried ive inadvertently signed a new contract. ...their customer service is atrocious. ..enjoyed weekend in Blackpool though

westlothianlass

Hi all, its been a long time since i posted though i've looked in a few times recently.
Things have been busy, but in a good way, the garden is bursting with goodies, our supplies are at a healthy level and we've been working on reducing our outgoings so i can work less (fingers crossed i should hear next week if my employer says its ok).
Had the house rewired last week, it was well overdue and so glad its done as we found some very dodgy electrics.
Hope everyone is well, and i promise to try and post more often
WLL x

moneyistooshorttomention

....and, on a very different SHTF tack, and its that time of year again (ie for renewing my home insurance). So - one of my "comparison" thoughts is very much how efficient (or otherwise...) companies are. I cant be doing with dealing with inefficient companies - and my personal priority is I am prepared to pay (a little) more if I will get a high level of efficiency from the firm concerned.

I lose patience rather rapidly if I'm trying to sort out "inefficiencies/script quoting/etc" at me.

Any suggestion as to HIGHLY efficient insurance companies I could check out for my home/contents insurance....and I mean highly.

Good - and bad - experiences of who to investigate and who to avoid welcomed please for that.

ivyleaf

Nice to see you westlothianlass

Mrs LW I was so pleased to read your post, as I don't go to Wilko's very often (parking near there is difficult) and hadn't known they do a sensitive toothpaste. I have to use S3nsodyne and it's so dear!

moneyistooshort - Good luck on your mission. There seem to be fewer and fewer efficient companies of any sort about these days! The thing is, it's impossible to know how efficient (or not) an insurance company is until you need to make a claim. I could tell you about how efficient the company we're using was when we wanted to set up a policy, but it wouldn't really help you.

jk0

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

....and, on a very different SHTF tack, and its that time of year again (ie for renewing my home insurance). So - one of my "comparison" thoughts is very much how efficient (or otherwise...) companies are. I cant be doing with dealing with inefficient companies - and my personal priority is I am prepared to pay (a little) more if I will get a high level of efficiency from the firm concerned.

I lose patience rather rapidly if I'm trying to sort out "inefficiencies/script quoting/etc" at me.

Any suggestion as to HIGHLY efficient insurance companies I could check out for my home/contents insurance....and I mean highly.

Good - and bad - experiences of who to investigate and who to avoid welcomed please for that.

Lloyds bank insurance are the most efficient in my view. I found an article rating them very highly in the paper about ten years ago, and took home insurance with them.

They were very good when my garage roof blew off. The firm I asked for a quote were a bit slow, and Lloyds rang offering to instruct someone for me.

Claim was paid up without a quibble.

http://www.lloydsbank.com/insurance.asp

1Tonsil

Apologies for being MIA...my sister has been over visiting for a week and we have been busy enjoying the sights and having a good time for her birthday. She went home on Friday, just before our very hot very humid weather took a strange turn...

She brought us some emergency money over in sterling and we are saving in just in case the finances take a turn for the worse. Everyone is busy pretending that an agreement is close and that everything is okay....its not....if they get the 25 billion, which I doubt, it is ALL going to foreign bankers and to repay borrowed money from institutions. So we are all suffering the cash crunch and they all make off with the euros....

VAT rises have caused a great deal of confusion. I cant help assuming that some lunatic has ticked off a list without looking at the words.....for instance, a bunch of mint is 13 percent vat, but a bunch of Basil is 23 percent and a luxury. A souvlaki, meat on a stick, is 13 percent, but if it has salt and pepper on it, it goes up to 23 percent :rotfl: Its making a visit to the supermarket a revelation lol . Since we eat mostly natural local basic foods, unprocessed, our food bill has actually gone down...but how they came to the conclustion that toilet rolls are a luxury is beyond my imagination.

I got in touch with the Greek banking ombudsman and managed to get access to our money after waiting for weeks. He has decided to take up the case as they breached consumer rules and procedures and it has gone to the head office.

I have ordered a new slow cooker and went for the light weight, metal insert one where you can brown the meat first. I am hoping it will get through the vagueries of the Greek postal system unscathed. My old one got donated to a local charity who give kitchen ware and clothes to needy families. It worked great, it was just to danged heavy to move around!

In the last few days my OH and I have been talking about the year that our weather here suddenly broke in August, instead of October. Last night we had a sudden storm, it broke at 4am after hanging around for hours. We had another this afternoon. I cant help feeling that the same thing is going to happen this year as well.....

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm not following the logic of that VAT rating either 1Tonsil - 2 different herbs at different rates = ???

Loo paper as VAT-able. Since when was loo paper a luxury? - or are they working on the basis you can all find another use for vine leaves?:cool:

Though...goodness knows - we've had VAT on another essential (of the feminine "wrong time of month" variety) here in Britain for some time - cue for total agreement by all women that that is ludicrous:cool:

We haven't (well...I haven't anyway....) read much about Greece in the news for the last week or so...so its good to be updated about just what is happening..

ivyleaf

Glad you're okay 1tonsil! I hope your sister enjoyed her visit despite the heat. Glad to hear too that the banking ombudsman in on the case.

Karmacat

Absolutely, 1Tonsil, what ivyleaf said. I do wonder about an early autumn this year - there's quite a few leaves starting to come down from the trees.

ALIBOBSY

Just been catching up with the last weeks postings. Busy with garden and kids.

Anyone else in the effected water area. Pain in the bum having to keep boiling water and using up bottled water. Shops keep getting cleared out, but at least we had some in store already. Most takeaways and cafes/restaurants are shut in the area.

It really brings home how much we rely on just being able to turn and tap and use the water, and this isn't even not having water its having to process it first before use. First time I have regretted not having a dishwasher though lol. Boiling kettles for washing up must be costing us a fortune.

There is talk of compensation, but no specifics yet. They are saying hopefully water will be back from Wednesday.

Ali x