Home Insurance. Goodness, what a nightmare that is. Our policy had suffered a more than 25% price hike and I was not impressed. I spent yet more time (did this a couple of days ago too) on comparison websites, but felt that the cheaper quotes (despite being voted best for prices etc) were more for bog-standard properties - some didn't even mention outbuildings, and if they did, would only cover summer houses, garages and greenhouses - not Victorian stable blocks. Then if something was a STABLE, well that wasn't covered either. We won't go down the Bridleway route as our house track is a bridleway (which goes on to the farm up the hill). Anyway, having clarified coverage (again, as I a know we did this from the start), I then said I wasn't happy with the price quoted and to come back with their best offer. This turned out to be £85 less - not much more than last year - so I have stayed put with them. My poor brain has been fried going from site to site, and reading reviews good and bad.
Poor brain wasn't helped from starting the day, yet again, with chasing up carers. I got told we hadn't even been allocated a social worker yet (course not, as THEN they would have to do something). So I got the Duty Social Worker's number and left a message (you don't think there was someone available to pick the phone up do you?) So I have left a message and stressed the urgency. Really, I cannot carry on much longer as Keith is very doddery come bed time and it is a real challenge to get him from living room to bedroom each night. Covid really exacted a toll and he has been going downhill steadily ever since. I will spare you all the details but it is incredibly stressful and only going to get worse, sadly.
Whilst I was having a Phone Morning, I chased up the Handyman about the greenhouse and said I was getting the impression he didn't want the work, so perhaps I had better look elsewhere . . .
District Nurse hasn't turned up yet . . .
I will hope and pray for better days ahead--or at least more help. So sorry about y our husband.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need me to tell you this but at least keep some home insurance while you find a policy you want. In a rural area , surely there is stable/ barn/ outbuilding coverage? Do you have an insurance agent to guide you?
When we were in Carms we used an Insurance Broker, but since moving, not. There are specialist insurance agents who cover farms, smallholdings etc, but we just happen to be a house (once a stable and carriage house) and the stable block built in the 1890s. Got it sorted anyway.
DeleteGood to get things in order! You're so efficient. Hope your day and week go well.
Deletelove
lizzy
Good to get all the phoning done once you are on a roll!
ReplyDeleteI have to get brave enough to start with..then have all the information lined up..and have no distractions 😕
Have you ever tried NFU mutual for insurance quotes? I just pop into our local office by the mart..much easier! They aren't on any comparison websites..so you don't have to pay for that! It good to be able to deal with a Human Bean...then they have to do the phoning and computer work!!
We once tried NFU for our old home - the quote was about 3 times what we were paying, so we knocked that on the head - although the person who recommended them said they always paid up sweetly if you put a claim in. Since we have only made one claim in 50 years, we thought we would stay with the just-in-case model . . .
DeleteThe NFU would sort you out insurance - only problem is they are more expensive than everyone else because they have real people in real offices.
ReplyDeleteI keep hoping to hear you have help and keeping all crossed for you that it happens soon
I saved quite a bit when I changed to NFU...but the service is worth paying for
DeleteI tried NFU when my current provider upped my premium by 25%. I nearly dropped the phone when they quoted me just over £1,000 for a basic premium on a 2 bedroom bungalow. More than double my current premium.
DeleteAh, we all had the same experience then! Horses for courses I guess. . .
DeleteI have not been assigned a social worker either, my referral went in in March. The situation is diabolical and hopeless. If things carry on like this I will have to look at going into a care home for my own safety.
ReplyDeleteMy insurance went up 25% too, and I failed to find a better deal. I negotiated £50 reduction.
Right, you will have to chase them up and KEEP chasing, which is what our Parkinsons nurse said. I got as far as the Social Worker broom-cupboard phone yesterday . . . and left a message but not holding my breath. Policy Expert seem to have been voted best insurance provider but I don't know whether this is on price (they are much cheaper) or reliability to pay out!
DeleteNothing much more aggravating than the need to make phone calls, leave messages, wait for a return call while wondering at the inefficiency of most agencies and businesses. I suppose we're meant to believe that such places are run off their feet, short of help, when it feels like we are being ignored.
ReplyDeleteHaving the bathroom upstairs and Keith downstairs for much of the day has to be an exhausting challenge. For the most part we go blithely through our younger years without thought of becoming care-givers or of the time when we may be the one needing help to do the simplest acts of dressing, toileting, eating.
I'm hoping your request for assistance won't be put off until after the holidays. Meanwhile, let go of the non-essential chores and take any spare moment to sit with the companionable cats.
The worst bit is waiting for them to call back (GP take note) or have phone messages answered. No, tell a lie, the worst bit is the call centre in India, but that seems to have been largely superceded now - one would like to think after the hundreds of thousands of complaints.
DeleteIndeed, having the only bathroom upstairs isn't ideal, but plumber says a downstairs one isn't possible. I agree, we totally underestimate the drain of energy involved with care-giving, especially as since Covid Keith's routine has changed and everything seems to take twice as long. I suspect we may have to go privately for carers but know that they are also very short-staffed .. .
Non-essential chores already sidelined!!
Shocking. Sometimes I think people who after all have chosen to be on the front line hide behind phone lines and computer screens. Mind you BB, I would not be seeing carers as the holy grail. My mum’s evening carer used to arrive between 5 and 6pm (and stayed 15mins!). Thankfully my parents had a stair lift so my mum was able to come back downstairs and sit in front of the fire and have a bit of supper with my dad. It would have been a lonely existence for both of them if she’d been banished to the bedroom by 6pm. Our insurance renewal came through the other week too and has increased which judging by the markets does not surprise me. We use an agent - saves time, money and angst. Thinking of you BB. I understand how tough it is. Sarah x
ReplyDeleteI remember this with my mum, the Council carers could be a bit haphazard with their timing, and at the end, a 15 minute slot was all that was allowed - no chance of fitting in hair-washing etc, or personal hygiene - just change pads, sluice the nether regions and go. Thank God I have Danny & Emma arriving next month as I know they will help in every way they can.
DeleteHere they refer to that as 'kicking ass and taking names'. Go, you!
ReplyDeleteHaha. I used to be a PA and have been known as a force to be reckoned with when my dander is up.
DeleteI do hope you get the help you need very soon. Why on earth have they not allocated a Social Worker for you as of yet????? Plainly they are not listening to you.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Simples - if you allocate a Social Worker, then you actually have to DO something about the situation. That is why our friend Debbie is still waiting to have one allocated to her.
DeleteRe the handyman, everyone in that sort of business seems to shut down about 2 weeks before Christmas. I don't know if the same applies to carers.
ReplyDeleteCarers carry on - leastways my mum's did. The handyman suddenly found he could come when I asked if he still wanted the job.
DeleteI only said this on another blog yesterday, after 30 years of working in 'partnership' with Social Services and the Police, I never met a competent and honest social worker or copper.
ReplyDeleteMy poor Dad passed away 18 months ago, before his Social worker achieved anything for him, all we ever heard from her in every meeting we had between her and the hospital staff was 'there's no care in Wales' it was all she ever said to us 'there's no care in Wales, there's no care in Wales' she was just utterly useless.
So good luck, its so hard to be trying to give care and fight the system at the same time, it's no wonder, you feel worn down.
Have you and your friend considered emailing your MP's office, with regard to the lack of help from Social Services....Worth a try.
Best wishes CraftyNan Shropshire x
Oh dear CraftyNan, that doesn't sound promising. I know when I tried to get emergency cover when we'd had Covid, no-one returned my calls. Sorry that you couldn't get anyone fighting your dad's corner when he was ill. He truly had a useless Social Worker.
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