The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

silvercar wrote: »

I would go to one of the local ones, provided you have the right to reject the repair if it is not to standard.

Notification will result in a higher premium, even a no fault notification.

But there's also the history of the car to consider if/when selling, plus any potential warranty claims related to paintwork. The paintwork warranty on my car is in excess of a decade.

I personally wouldn't buy an electric car thinking it's been run on a budget, so the additional insurance costs may be worth stomaching for next year for ease and price of sale later on.

I'd be looking at main dealer repair due to the age and type of the car. Sorry if others disagree here.

GDB2222 wrote: »

That's not really correct any more. Not since enactment of Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012.

Essentially, that act requires the insurance company to ask questions, which you are expected to answer truthfully. However, a minor failure to disclose (if asked), such as failing to mention a non-fault accident where you did not make a claim, would be unlikely to invalidate the policy.

I think the worst they would do is knock any increase that might have occurred in the price of the policy, off the payout.

Pyxis wrote: »

Lydia, re. the mould, if you know someone who repairs antique furniture, that would certainly be the first place to start, as there's a good chance he will have come across it before.

Thanks. I'll try phoning him tonight.
ETA So I tried that, but he didn't answer. Have sent a text explaining the problem and asking for advice.

GDB2222 wrote: »

I suspect the mould is the least of your problems. A quick wipe with soap and water will probably sort it out. Possibly add a little white vinegar to help kill the mould.

I once had to deal with a fridge that had been unplugged but left full of food for a couple of months. That had mould growing that was easy enough to wash off, but it did stain the plastic.

I'd be much more worried about the wood warping and cracking as it dries out. These cold, damp houses are apparently excellent for antique furniture, whilst central heating is terrible! I definitely think you should get advice about that if the piece is important to you.

I hadn't thought about that. I'll ask about it when I'm talking to the furniture repairing person. Yes, the piece is important to its owner, but the owner isn't me. I expect you can guess who!

I've never understood why it's so good to have cold damp houses for furniture. After all, they're not cold and damp all year round. I would have thought a centrally heated house would have much less in the way of seasonal changes in the environment.

On the plus side, the piano that used to belong to my parents, and before that my grandparents (made in 1912) has been in my house since about 2011. It spent a couple of years being not very happy about the change in its living conditions, but has now settled down. It still needs tuning a little more frequently than a modern piano, but it deserves a little extra respect in view of how elderly it is.

vivatifosi wrote: »

Great thinkers, including many from the tech industry as well as scientists such as Einstein and Turing are or were socially awkward.

And Newton. Definitely Newton.

vivatifosi wrote: »

And speaking of potential, good luck for Sunday Sue. Go ace it!

Are we allowed to know what the role is? Elsewhere if you feel here is too public, or not at all if you'd rather not, of course.

Pyxis wrote: »

Re. houses and furniture, I think it's because central heating is too drying for old furniture, so the pieces of it shrink and start to split open.

Also, it may be that old varnish doesn't survive well in dry atmospheres either, and starts to craze and buckle.

My piano is about 40 years old but was made to withstand centrally heated homes.
I was told that before central heating, the best place for a piano was behind the door, so that when the door opened it wasn't subjected to blasts of cold air from the hall.

Who remembers freezing cold halls?:D
And that was where the telephone was!
Certainly kept the phone bills down.,
I remember saying how much I wished I could just take the phone into the warm living room! :rotfl:
Then when I could do that, I wished I could take a phone out with me!
:rotfl:
Funny old world!

:rotfl:
I certainly remember freezing cold halls. Don't have to think back very far - just as far as last time I was at my dad's house during winter, which would be about 8-10 months ago.

Maybe that's why old houses tend to have doors that open towards the middle of the room - so the piano can be behind it - rather than towards the wall, as doors in modern houses do. (Or doors in older houses that have since been rehung, of course.) All the doors in my dad's house (built 1890s) open towards the middle of the room, but none of the houses I've lived in (all post war, and two this century) have done that.