Insurance

 Advertising tells us that insurance buys peace of mind. We pay a company a premium that covers accidents and disasters should they befall us. I pay premiums for my house, my car and my holidays in the hope that I will not have to claim anything. However, My car insurance company, Hastings Direct, has given me nothing but headaches - is this the price for paying for the cheapest on offer? 

When I signed up with them, I had to fit a gadget in my car that records my driving. This made my premium cheaper. I was pretty proud of my high score and let out an occasional boast to friends. In terms of essay writing, I was consistently getting a B+ and this hasn't altered over the time I have been driving. I noticed on the feedback that it recorded I used my phone while driving - this was not not me. It was my passenger. errr. Nonetheless, I wear my score as a badge of pride. 

Here comes the rub. Hastings customer services are less than acceptable. I first had problems when my car became a sitting duck in  the Wolverton Tesco carpark. It was a low speed collision but the car stayed in the repair shop for seven weeks. The other driver's insurance covered the repairs and my car hire. The trouble was, I wasn't driving so I wasn't recording my driving. Hastings threatened to cancel my policy. I explained the issue. No problem. They seemed happy so I carried on until I got another threat. This time the assistant on the end of the line promised to put this on my record. Yay!

I got my car back and thought no more of it. Then... I got SMSs and emails requesting proof of my "no claims discount". In the old days, I'd whip out a sheet of paper from my file. Not any more. I needed to get hold of my previous insurer, Marshmallow and they don't deal with human contact. I finally realised that I had to get the app and key in my old policy number to access my records. Meanwhile, I had repeated threats from Hastings. Just before the deadline, I managed to send proof to Hastings. Not good enough. They sent an email saying they were putting my premiums up by £350. I rang them up again. Apparently, I sent the evidence in reply email which is not acceptable. After a bit of argy bargy all was sorted. What a palava? And, certainly no peace of mind. 

To top it all I got a parking ticket. Driving has hidden costs and lots of stresses. I am sure AI has a lot to answer for with auto generated emails and not enough smart people checking the systems.  The promised simplicity of a future with AI is a long way off. I am convinced old-fashioned cycling is the way ahead. As long as I use my sound alarm and heavy duty lock to ensure I deter old-fashioned thieves, I should be OK. I just need to be wary of idiots who moor their boats to park benches! That is another story. 

As a final insurance, I set off to help clean up the graveyard at my local church last Saturday. You never know when you might need a place as a future residence. Despite the inclement conditions, there was a keen group - even keener to sup tea and coffee in the church to dry out.