Balancing not just the budget

kerri_gt

I have house insurance to do, its always a faff. We got stung with a cheap insurer a couple of years ago who, when we needed them were next to useless...actually they weren't next to useless,  they were entirely useless.
So I'm super cautious about who I go with now and end up feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the options / companies out there.

RosaBernicia

kerri_gt said:

I have house insurance to do, its always a faff. We got stung with a cheap insurer a couple of years ago who, when we needed them were next to useless...actually they weren't next to useless,  they were entirely useless.
So I'm super cautious about who I go with now and end up feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the options / companies out there.

Sorry to hear that Kerri.  I have been lucky so far when I've needed to claim so I've stuck with buying the Defaqto five star ones, even when I can't justify £100 extra to stick with the same company.  I was astonished to find the cheapest quote was so well rated this time round.  Even that's not foolproof as although I didn't need to claim with a certain pink Ozzie-ish company who are also 5 star rated, they changed their advice on how long I could leave the house empty when I called with another query.  I was horrified, as it would have either taken months to prove what they advised me the first time or have left me uninsured and breaking the terms of the mortgage.  I won't ever use them again and should probably have made a formal complaint, but of course at the time was too busy sorting it. 

Have you tried the inventory idea to work out the level of contents cover?  It was a bit eye opening and in short I have far too much stuff

bellevie

That's great news on your car insurance Rosa, well needed after an expensive month!

RosaBernicia

Well as things settle with the house a bit, I think I need to start minding the small stuff again.  I feel like things are at least at a point where I can make plans, even if they involve rather more spending than saving for the rest of this year (and possibly the spring if I do anything much with the garden). 

Just checked up on my gas and electric, as I know it expires in November and a rise is predicted before then.  A bit surprised to find that my current supplier doesn't seem to come up on the Cheap Energy Club at all - it's the 8 legged one - but as I've been happy with them I'd rather stay than switch.  Their quote is only about £2 more per year than the cheapest of the big names, and that's for a 2 year fix - their other options would be cheaper but I think the certainty is probably worth an extra £14.  However, not sure I can move before the end of the contract so guess I'll wait a while longer. 

Small MSE things... washing went on the line and radiators not in the tumble dryer; and may manage an NSD if I can stop myself wandering to the corner shop for sweeties after a long work call!

kerri_gt

RosaBernicia said:

kerri_gt said:

I have house insurance to do, its always a faff. We got stung with a cheap insurer a couple of years ago who, when we needed them were next to useless...actually they weren't next to useless,  they were entirely useless.
So I'm super cautious about who I go with now and end up feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the options / companies out there.

Sorry to hear that Kerri.  I have been lucky so far when I've needed to claim so I've stuck with buying the Defaqto five star ones, even when I can't justify £100 extra to stick with the same company.  I was astonished to find the cheapest quote was so well rated this time round.  Even that's not foolproof as although I didn't need to claim with a certain pink Ozzie-ish company who are also 5 star rated, they changed their advice on how long I could leave the house empty when I called with another query.  I was horrified, as it would have either taken months to prove what they advised me the first time or have left me uninsured and breaking the terms of the mortgage.  I won't ever use them again and should probably have made a formal complaint, but of course at the time was too busy sorting it. 

Have you tried the inventory idea to work out the level of contents cover?  It was a bit eye opening and in short I have far too much stuff

This company was also 5 star defaqto rated. Given the service we received I wonder who they bribed for that rating. Had to take them to the ombusdman to even get reimbursed for the cost of a report they requested us to have done because they didn't have anyone in the area to come and do it - then tried to argue that because they rejected our claim, they weren't going to reimburse the £500 for the report!! Took over a year to sort out with them and to say I wouldn't touch them with someone elses barge pole is too polite. Should've read more reviews, the only good ones were from people who hadn't had to claim. Same old stories otherwise. 

RosaBernicia

kerri_gt said:

This company was also 5 star defaqto rated. Given the service we received I wonder who they bribed for that rating. Had to take them to the ombusdman to even get reimbursed for the cost of a report they requested us to have done because they didn't have anyone in the area to come and do it - then tried to argue that because they rejected our claim, they weren't going to reimburse the £500 for the report!! Took over a year to sort out with them and to say I wouldn't touch them with someone elses barge pole is too polite. Should've read more reviews, the only good ones were from people who hadn't had to claim. Same old stories otherwise. 

Eek, I suppose I should look up how those ratings are done!  Will have a quick check about the one I've got as still time to cancel - I did it 21 days in advance as per MSE advice.  Thanks for the warning...

RosaBernicia

Ah, well I have already learnt something here - the Defaqto rating is about how comprehensive the product is, not anything to do with the claims process.  So they need checking separately.  https://www.defaqto.com/our-methodology/

The Which? rating for this company also doesn't have customer survey feedback.  Trustpilot is mixed... but I don't reallly know what to make of Trustpilot atm given all the talk of fake reviews.

Hmmmm...

kerri_gt

Well if its Policy Expert run a mile...my Trust Pilot review is on there.
Our claim was rejected because we couldn't prove a lightning strike damaged our electrics incl our tv despite the fact they were working before the strike, then weren't working after and things like our broadband router were blown apart. It actually hit our neighbours house direct, even that wasn't enough. They largely wriggled out of the claim as unrelated things flagged on the electrical report as not 100% up to today's standards,  but not dangerous. !!!!!! it's a 1960s house,  did they expect a full rewire to be done every time standards change.

RosaBernicia

kerri_gt said:

Well if its Policy Expert run a mile...my Trust Pilot review is on there.
Our claim was rejected because we couldn't prove a lightning strike damaged our electrics incl our tv despite the fact they were working before the strike, then weren't working after and things like our broadband router were blown apart. It actually hit our neighbours house direct, even that wasn't enough. They largely wriggled out of the claim as unrelated things flagged on the electrical report as not 100% up to today's standards,  but not dangerous. !!!!!! it's a 1960s house,  did they expect a full rewire to be done every time standards change.

Eek!  That's appalling, will certainly avoid them.  Well there is another very good reason to have had the electrics checked at this house.

This is a different company. The bad reviews seem to be people who claim they weren't contacted to clarify their NCB, so I've double checked my policy schedule to be sure that what went on the comparison site came through correctly and it seems to be ok.  There is something in there about an admin fee to cancel within 14 days which I'm not sure they can technically do when it's bought online and not started.  But it's done now so think I will just leave it and as always hope I don't need it. 

RosaBernicia

Sneaking in blushing to report a Sunday shuffle that can probably be summarised as "ummmm... oops?"

Given all the shortages of things I've decided to get as much as possible of the house stuff done asap, which has cost for plumber, electrician, carpets etc.  And had to pay for a professional exam.  And the cat needed a vet trip and blood tests.  And I've bought a new winter coat and jeans (need to revisit my wardrobe situation, as I only really have to look professional on the top half, and am out in the weather every day).  So in short... the carpet costs are on interest free credit, to free up cash for work that can only be paid that way, and I may carry a balance on one of the credit cards for a month or so.  I debated whether to think about planning to pay it off already, but everything's so uncertain I won't actually know where I stand for another couple of months and I won't need to then pay for much over the winter months, so decided to just go with the flow.  I'm happy with the way things are turning out so I think it's worth getting a bit ahead of myself to be sure things are done. 

In other MSE news... very fed up with one of my banks (the beardy one) as their app has not been sending payments that I create.  Think I may well give up on them and switch.  Annoyed to find my TCB for the car insurance isn't showing, but it was still the cheapest option anyway. 

So at present YNAB is basically telling me I've spent all my disposable income for September paycheque as well as this one... but that isn't exactly a surprise

all else is ok, hope everyone is well

RB xx