Insurance company today trying to rinse me of my money. 

Had a call today from my insurance company, was thinking it's about confirming my no claims discount which I sent them proof of not too long ago. The lady said she's been seeing my searches on comparison sites and wanted to confirm a few things. One thing she asked was my occupation which I put down as a postgraduate student. I mentioned I'm a support worker in a hospital 🤦. She updated my info and said I need to pay £72 on my premiums going up after changing that. £55 being admin fees. 

Should of just said I'm a student still. I'm doing an apprenticeship so tried mentioning that though that's not classed as a postgraduate student 😅.

17 hours ago, zain611 said:

I mentioned I'm a support worker in a hospital 🤦. She updated my info and said I need to pay £72 on my premiums going up after changing that. £55 being admin fees. 

Yeah, probably their algorithm says that's a riskier occupation than a postgraduate student. Occasionally you come across articles in the media showing the most "insurance friendly" description for various occupations without actually lying.

£55 admin fee...how long did it take her to type!?  

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

£55 admin fee...how long did it take her to type!?  

Lol, maybe she types at the same speed as me!

It seems this is unregulated so it's a charge what they can get away with situation. I have heard of it being dropped or reduced when challenged. 

Some insurers like NFU Mutual don't charge these fees.

Article here on the subject but a bit out of date now:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2015/05/the-devil-is-in-the-details-insurers-charge-huge-fees-for-simple-changes/#:~:text=Insurers are allowed to charge admin fees and,the insurer for the fee to be waived.

2 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Lol, maybe she types at the same speed as me!

It seems this is unregulated so it's a charge what they can get away with situation. I have heard of it being dropped it reduced when challenged. 

Some insurers like NFU Mutual don't charge these fees.

Article here on the subject but a bit out of date now:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2015/05/the-devil-is-in-the-details-insurers-charge-huge-fees-for-simple-changes/#:~:text=Insurers are allowed to charge admin fees and,the insurer for the fee to be waived.

Yes, I had a similar situation a couple of years ago.  Shortly after I'd started a new years insurance and paid the premium in full, I was emailed to say that I'd be charged a ludicrous amount of admin fee because there was a few days error on the vehicle purchase date.  The error gave me about 20 pence refund, and I was expected to pay about £20 in fees for that.  Told them I wasn't paying the admin fee, and they could keep the refund...

I really don't like insurance companies!  

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

insurance

Now you have said the word, 'Dan' will pop up like a Genie out of a lamp 🤣

Don't like trying to work out when the next royal mail collection is...anyone know? 

Is it tomorrow?  Or Wednesday?

On 8/22/2022 at 7:49 PM, TomsFocus said:

Found the invoice, it's 14 months old.

Seems like poor value if they only last a year.  Genuine ones are £26 though.  Have to decide whether to drop £6 on another cheap one or just put up with it now. 🤔

Decided to make use of the topcashback £2 bonus offer today and buy a new remote.  Info button is now totally inoperative so I can't see the programme info at all.

TCB offer applies to items over £5.  New remote cost £4.90. 🤦‍♂️

Will have to see if I can find something else I need for a fiver or more now.   

 

(PS - As for postal collections...we did have a delivery on Friday...and the local postbox has a 'TUE' tag in it, suggestion collections are being made on Tuesday as well.  Not really understanding what disruption should be expected from the RM strikes now?)

13 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Decided to make use of the topcashback £2 bonus offer today and buy a new remote.  Info button is now totally inoperative so I can't see the programme info at all.

TCB offer applies to items over £5.  New remote cost £4.90. 🤦‍♂️

Will have to see if I can find something else I need for a fiver or more now.   

 

(PS - As for postal collections...we did have a delivery on Friday...and the local postbox has a 'TUE' tag in it, suggestion collections are being made on Tuesday as well.  Not really understanding what disruption should be expected from the RM strikes now?)

Just buy 2 remotes. Then when you can't find the one you are using simply use the other one 😂

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Just buy 2 remotes. Then when you can't find the one you are using simply use the other one 😂

Ah, but I don't go around losing things, I'm a putter, not a leaver.  

 

 

Being at work (Overtime) on a Monday. Only the 2nd time I've worked a Monday in 18 months. 

I don't like getting my yearly pension review from my employer (local council) and realising I'm worth more dead than alive! 🙄😀

I don't like struggling to keep an air plant healthy.  Honestly, this thing literally just needs air to survive.  How can I be getting that wrong!?  

26 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I don't like struggling to keep an air plant healthy.  Honestly, this thing literally just needs air to survive.  How can I be getting that wrong!?

They do require a lot of maintenance and consume huge amounts of electricity. I'd get rid of it 🤣

33 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I don't like struggling to keep an air plant healthy.  Honestly, this thing literally just needs air to survive.  How can I be getting that wrong!?  

Perhaps being in your basement 24/7 with no windows the plant is trying to tell you something 😮

5 minutes ago, williamweb said:

Perhaps being in your basement 24/7 with no windows the plant is trying to tell you something 😮

Lol.  I think it's probably the opposite to that.  South facing window sill!    

I'm sure I remember my great aunt having several in her conservatory though. 🤔

You’ll need to remove it’s mask for a full recovery though 😁

8 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

I don't like struggling to keep an air plant healthy.  Honestly, this thing literally just needs air to survive.  How can I be getting that wrong!?  

https://www.airplantman.com/blogs/blog/5-simple-tricks-to-keep-your-airplant-alive

11 hours ago, Turvey said:

https://www.airplantman.com/blogs/blog/5-simple-tricks-to-keep-your-airplant-alive

'Simple' tricks...    Think I'll give it away if it's that much hassle!  

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

'Simple' tricks...    Think I'll give it away if it's that much hassle!  

Dunk it in water once a week! Can't get much simpler than that! 😀

9 minutes ago, Turvey said:

Dunk it in water once a week! Can't get much simpler than that! 😀

But not with tap water unless left for 15 minutes first.  And not in any container with any sort of previous residue.  And for 6-12 hours.  And then it needs to dried off and hung upside down and kept out of direct sunlight but not in the shade.

I've been running it under the tap once a week and already got bored of that...  

At the simple end of the scale, I have a Sansiveria Cylindrica...that literally only needs a dribble of water once a month and seems content in a shady corner.  Much more my kind of thing!  

Well, I found a spare ceramic plant pot which I'm hoping has no unwanted residue in it...and also hoping that it's long term waterproof.  (It is glazed internally lol).  So have left the airplant soaking in that for now...  Not sure I can be bothered with doing that regularly though.  

 

While we're on the subject of focussing on minor issues to distract from the major ones (  ), I don't like choosing birthday cards...  This one should be pretty simple as it's for a female relative who'll be turning 90.  I like the 'birth year data' cards, and was a bit disappointed not to receive one for my own recent milestone lol!  But will an old lady be interested in facts and figures?  Also, does anyone know of a decent online store for this type of card?  I quite like this one, but don't really know why they'd put USSR famine on a light-hearted bday card, and also don't like the cassette tape image for music which is obviously historically inaccurate.

Personalised 90th Birthday Card, Enter Any NAME, Perfect gift for MUM - PerfectTransactions

Seeing things like this locally  today @ 1630. Targeting another Fiesta ST thankfully the owner disturbed them and they fled empty handed.....

Think my printer might have had it. This is the test sheet after a nozzle clean.  Anything else that can be done before condemning it?

 

To answer my own question...replacing the black cartridge has considerably improved the character legibility!  Test diagram is still a bit dodgy but acceptable.  The level gauge showed the black as being half full, so I'm not sure if that's wrong or if the rest of the ink is too thick or dry or something.