While pet owners can book alternative means of travelling like the rest of us, they do face a different number of problems. For example, what alternative pet friendly travel methods are there out there? The number of countries you can reach is going to be limited. And, most importantly, how do you keep a ferret entertained on a 2 day car journey to the south of Spain?

But the big question everyone is asking is, where does insurance come into all of this? It’s something that the media have tried to cover over the last few days, but it’s something that really depends on the insurance company themselves and sadly there is not straight forward answer.

If you had taken out travel insurance prior to Eyjafjallajokull making international headlines you may be covered, but you will need to speak to your insurance provider to double check. While whether or not those who took out insurance prior to Eyjafjallajokull erupting is a bit of a grey area, airlines are certainly not covering any recent policies.

Your pet insurance policy isn’t going to prove to be a big help either – at least not with getting any money back. However, if you are still planning to go abroad – perhaps by an alternative means of transport – it will still provide you with overseas cover, if this is something that was in your original policy.

This is something more and more pet owners will be thinking about as the journey time which was once a quick flight to the continent has now become considerably longer and a lot more complications and pet-induced problems are likely to occur.

And what about volcano insurance? Well, this is probably only necessary if you live in Iceland although should it ever hit the States, one man is suitably covered.

Related personalfinanosaurus posts:

1. Life insurance fears following the London bombings tragedy
2. The worried thoughts of a dinogroom
3. What to do if the flood comes to your house

It’s been a long time coming and will lead to major changes for those seemingly ‘white knights’ of the finance world – the price comparison sites.

In the finance world, there is a little known black art used by these sites which mean a lot of price comparison websites will rank certain financial providers sites at the top of their lists of recommended best buys based on the commission they’ll get from these providers, even when they are not the cheapest.

This gives a false impression to the user that the provider is either cheaper than everybody else or, for some esoteric reason known only to those with the combined secret finance knowledge of the Gnomes Of Zurich and the Bilderberg Group, that it a better product. This means you could potentially actually end up with a worse deal for taking the best buy advice than you could have got by choosing a different product or going direct to another provider.

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That’s right. It’s funny news season. It turns out that insurers are really thinking of cranking up the premiums for households that make use of social networking. The concern is that too many people announce to the world when their houses are empty and ripe for plundering.

The director of pricing and underwriting at Legal & General, Malcolm Cooper, told the Daily Mail that;

“It’s a challenging one for the insurance industry. Just because someone is burgled, you can’t prove that it’s down to details posted on Facebook.

“It could be that we start asking how many youngsters are in the home for example.”

The comment is worth thinking about. Legal & General must associate social networking with youngsters.

It may be that older people are just as common on social sites (there’s debate as to whether teens even bother with Twitter at all) and just as likely to announce when they’re on holiday.

Earlier this year an American couple announced they were off on holiday and had a 10 hour drive to their 2000+ followers on Twitter only to come back to a burgled house.

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The new ad will feature an opera singer called Gio Compario. The website gio-compario.com has been registered by GoCompare but, at the time of writing, isn’t currently in use.

The first ad airs tomorrow on UK TV and will feature Gio Compario signing the classic Over There by George M Cohan but will insert the words “GoCompare” into the lyrics.

The new ads will replace the current run which keeps the focus on GoCompare’s star rating system. The stars are actually quite controversial as they edge the “price comparison” service closer towards giving out financial advice. Financial advice is a dangerous thing to give out and requires all sorts of checks and passes (one of the reasons why Cashzilla never does it).

… and for the curious, here’s the actual chorus to Over There. We imagine Gio Compario may simply switch “Over there” with “Go Compare”.

Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over there
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming
The drum’s rum-tumming everywhere
So prepare, say a prayer,
Send the word, send the word to beware
We’ll be over, we’re coming over
And we won’t come back till it’s over, over there

No related posts.

It seems as though everything just keeps getting worse and worse for the 20 and 30 something generations.

As I look around at the economic landscape I just have to dispair these days. On the one hand the government suggests a bright future with great high paying jobs available for all graduates, and on the other hand there is the reality of Britain’s and the indeed most of the rest of the world’s economic situation.

- Difficulties getting onto the first rung of the property ladder
- Younger workers representing the majority of those losing their jobs in the current economic climate
- Increased debt at the start of working life due to the removal of student grants
- Few genuine “graduate” level jobs which actually provide the increased pay rates and prospects widely touted
- and now announcements about pensions deficits meaning companies can no longer provide decent final-salary schemes to either new or existing members of staff and that the retirement age will have to rise too.

Even the safety net of the public state pension, and all those index-linked civil service pensions, which have for a long time been seen as sacrosanct, are in serious difficulties due to shortfalls. The Adam Smith Institute seems to be despairing at the situation as well, “The government’s pension schemes would not even pass its own laws and regulations. Indeed, if the cabinet were private-sector pension trustees, they would all have been carted off to Pentonville Jail long ago. Now there’s a thought to keep you happy in an impoverished retirement.”

This dinosaur knows that there have always been financial difficulties for those just starting out on their working lives, but currently it seems as though almost everyday something new comes along to compound the issue.

There must be some good news out there? Surely.

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According to recent advice from the insurance industry, those who have been affected by the floods should contact their contents and building insurer as soon as possible.

Jane Milne, the ABI’s Head of Property, said:

“These events highlight just how important insurance protection is. If you have been affected by flooding, contact your insurance company. Their priority is to deal with all claims as quickly as possible.”

Following a deal between the government and the insurance industry back in 2005, the insurers agreed to continue to insure homes at risk of flood, as long as the government would increase its spending on flood defences. While last year there was an apparent £15m shortfall in spending, the government has claimed that this was simply a one-off. Despite the Governments assurances this shortfall has made some insurers a bit wary, and may potentially lead to future increases in premiums, difficulties changing providers, and problems for those wanting to take out new flood insurance policies where flooding has occurred in the past.

The news for current victims of the floods is however looking fairly positive, with the current official advice from the Association of British Insurers indicating that:

• Household and business insurance policies will cover flood damage. People affected should contact their insurer as soon as possible. Most offer 24-hour emergency helpline services to arrange for repairs to be carried out.

• Most policies will cover the cost of alternative accommodation (up to a specified limit) if you need to move out of your home while it is being repaired.

• Comprehensive motor insurance will cover damage caused to vehicles

They also state as part of the advice on their site that:

• If necessary arrange for temporary repairs to be carried out to stop any damage getting worse. Keep receipts, as these will be needed for your insurance claim.

• Do not use electricity or water supplies until the all clear is given.

• Where there has been flooding, disinfect floors and furnishings. Where practical, leave doors, windows and cupboards open. If possible, keep rooms heated.

• Do not rush to redecorate, as it may take some weeks for the property to fully dry out.

The BBC also advises that:

As insurers will expect you to take reasonable steps to protect your property, homeowners should, wherever possible, take easily moveable objects upstairs and use sandbags to hold back the water.

For the sake of safety, make sure the electrical supply is switched off at the mains and equipment unplugged.

Once the waters have receded, homeowners can take up carpets, but these, like all other damaged items, must be retained so that the insurance company loss adjuster can see them and verify the claim.

Many businesses have business interruption cover, which will help to pay the cost of alternative accommodation should it be required.

It should be noted that when a major flood event such as this takes place it can take months for insurers to pay out, so claimants may need to be patient.

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There has been a lot of discussion in the press recently about critical illness insurance or critical illness cover and whether it’s worth the investment.

According to Channel 4, one in three people will suffer from cancer at some point in their lives, with a third of those developing cancer under the age of 65. These figures exclude other illnesses and Which? goes as far as stating that almost two-thirds of the population will develop a critical illness at some point in their lives. Not exactly a reassuring statistic.

Now, I’m only a personalfinanosaurus and no expert, but I have found a few resources which might prove helpful:

Channel 4 guide to CIC

Critical illness insurance research

http://www.abi.org.uk/Newsreleases/viewNewsRelease.asp?nrid=11921

If anyone has any comments, please feel free to make them!

Cash Z

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Standard Life, Axa-PPP and Norwich Union all announced that policy holders would be covered for events on the 7th July. Standard Life said that the company was not looking to “cause more distress” to victims and their families.

Reuters have been told that other firms such as Churchill, Endsleigh and Direct Line are likely to be sympathetic when dealing with people who have been injured or whose holidays have been disrupted, however these insurers have fallen short of announcing complete cover.

Churchill said that it would, “provide cancellation and personal accident cover if customers are physically injured on the way to their holiday departure…in addition, if any of our customers are away on holiday and hear of injury or death to a close relative, we will facilitate their return home…missed departures due to travel delay in central London will also be treated sympathetically. “This is despite Churchill including ‘acts of terrorism’ exclusions into their policies. This means that policies will generally not pay-out if losses are sustained due to any terrorist activities. This represents one of several general exclusion clauses which are often regularly added to many policies and which prevent payout for particular potentially costly situations for the insurers.

The terrorism exclusion is still regularly included in policies despite the introduction in 1993 of the Terrorism Insurance Program which provides reinsurance cover to the majority of U.K. insurers, is expected to absorb a large proportion of the insurance claims resulting from the 7th July attacks. Under the program, the insurance industry as a whole is liable for 75 million pounds per terrorist “event”, with losses above that covered by a mutual reinsurance pool. Should the costs rise above the funds available through the pool, then the UK Treasury will step in to cover the remaining costs.

Another group recently highlighted who may fall foul of this exclusion is the emergency services workers. Unison representatives have warned that this exclusion clause could leave emergency workers and their families high and dry if they are injured or killed. This would prove particularly disastrous for families with personal insurance policies which cover accidents and that also offer mortgage protection, as the potential loss of income due to injury combined with the lack of mortgage cover resulting from the exclusion, could mean those workers’ families affected may experience difficulties maintaining their future mortgage payments.

Some fire crews in Somerset have already threatened to go on strike due to claims that they may not be insured if they are injured whilst dealing with a terrorist attack. This action has since been called off, but many emergency workers are still justifiably worried, not only for their own safety, but also their families should anything happen to them whilst responding to a terrible emergency such as has already been seen in London.

Unison pointed out that its own insurance policy which is offered to members provided full cover and called for other insurers to do the same.

Sam Oestreicher of Unison said, “We are asking all insurance companies to look at their policies and if they have such exclusion clauses to drop them”.

The Association of British Insurers has also tried to reassure emergency workers and other customers saying, “most types of insurance are readily available without terrorism exclusions… The major personal types of insurance, such as life, household and comprehensive motor insurance provide cover for the effects of a terrorist incident as a standard feature of the policy.”
Today the plethora of online comparison sites such as Moneynet or Moneyfacts can search all the insurance policies available and provide guides to help consumers make decisions, however the need for people to check with providers to ensure they are not left unprotected has never been more evident.

The insurance industry itself has admitted that some policies do have exclusion clauses and are also advising policyholders to study the small print or contact their insurance company or broker to determine their cover levels.

Related personalfinanosaurus posts:

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According to the BBC:

Variable charges of up to £1.43 a mile – in busy routes in rush hour – could replace road tax and fuel duty under the government’s plans.

Transport experts said it would be the world’s most advanced road pricing scheme – but predicted political and technical difficulties in bringing it in.

Norwich Union are also offering “Pay As You Drive” insurance – as consumers reportedly state they want their motor insurance to be reflective of their car usage and the type of journeys they make. According to Norwich Union:

Norwich Union will be able to collect real-time vehicle data using a ‘black box’ device installed in your vehicle. This will allow monthly insurance payments to be calculated based on how often, when and where you use your vehicle.

Norwich Union believe this represents a major breakthrough in the calculation of fairer motor insurance premiums and ultimately gives you greater control, flexibility and choice.

The black box device measures vehicle usage and sends data directly to Norwich Union using similar technology to that used by mobile phones. You could be billed monthly and the technology will also allow us to offer you associated in-car services, such as emergency assistance and real-time route planning.

For more information:
http://www.norwichunion.com/pay-as-you-drive/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4610755.stm

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Road tax, insurance, MOT’s repairs, servicing, not to mention petrol.
However I would not give it up without someone prizing the keys out of my dead hand.

The joy of being able to go anywhere I want, when I want, listening to my own choice of music, rather than the “tst, tst, tst, tst” of the iPod wearer down the other end of the bus or train.

I had a period of about two years where I couldn’t afford to get my old car back onto the road. At first it didn’t seem so bad (I live in a city with supposedly good public transport), however as time went by, things got more and more depressing. Weekly food shopping trips took over four hours! Escape from the enclosure of buildings all around me meant I had to take pre-organised long bus or train journeys. I could only get away when I had a full day off, rather than when I wanted. No spontaneity was left.

These days I have a newer and more reliable car which I can just afford to keep going, but I am still paying off the loans I took out to buy it, and the regular large bills for insurance, repairs, etc, that seem to appear out of the blue, just when there is too much month left at the end of the pay packet, make it difficult. The government constantly increasing the cost of fuel to reduce emmisions by forcing poorer people off the roads, does not help at all.

If anyone knows a way of keeping on the road, but not selling your soul, I would like to know.

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