The Breakfast Policy.

A full English breakfast is a wonderful thing. I have had them all over the country, sometimes not even at breakfast time. But what actually constitutes this legendary repast? Most places describe it as a 'full English' but what you get varies enormously. Sometimes it's one sausage and a slice of bacon, sometimes its two of each. Sometimes you will get black pudding, most times not. Many places ask you to choose between tomatoes or beans bizarrely. Does it need a slice of fried bread to qualify? It seems not. You can't take a breakfast at face value, you have to read the menu; just like an insurance policy.

I have just had my buildings and contents policy renewal through and they seem to have put the price up, however, when you read the small print, not only have they put the price up, they have added a huge compulsory excess to the water damage clause. To use the breakfast analogy, this is akin to robbing me of a sausage which is a fundamental element in my breakfast. I don't mind them putting the price up a little every year but I don't want to have to check the menu to confirm that they haven't skimped on the beans and fried egg since last time. I rang them up and they advised me that it was 'unavoidable' so I 'avoided' it by taking my business elsewhere.

What I want is a JD Wetherspoon's policy, double sausage and bacon and just about everything else you can think of including chips if you want them all for a fiver, fabulous. Unfortunately no such thing exists in the insurance world. It's an annoying waste of time to have to re-broke the policy each renewal but the insurance companies themselves leave me no option. You can't even rely on those cuddly meerkat fellows they only tell you the upside, not the downside. Sly buggers those meerkats. 

If you enjoyed this, look out for the next in the series: Rocket science and the Sunday Roast.

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