A Rant (Part One)

I was all prepared to write a nice post about our trip to Boston last week. I was going to tell you about lobster (again), a big fancy party, and Lionel Richie. Unfortunately, the computer battery I ordered from the US nearly a month ago has not arrived and I still do not have internet access (a very very very long story).  So now all I have for you is a rant about senseless bureaucracy.  If you don't want to read a rant you can turn back now. Go ahead, I'll wait. 

Red red wine tape

When I started this blog I wanted to document our move, travels, and the reality of living in a foreign country. Today's blog focuses on the "reality" of the very senseless red tape that has weaved itself into the fabric of UK society. People here are generally loathsome of the layers of bureaucracy which needlessly complicate simple tasks (like getting internet). Now I can say we've experienced this first hand. For weeks Rory and I have been fighting our auto insurance company. We went with a particular company because it promised a substantial "no claims" discount because we had been accident free for over 9 years (the max). We rushed to obtain proof from our last two insurance carriers in the US. Due to the short time frame we had to furnish the evidence of no claims we used the magic of technology and had the letters faxed from the US. The letters were sent to our UK auto insurance carrier. 

The excuses begin

After submitting the documents to the UK insurance company we received a letter saying we did not provide any proof to support the no claims discount.  The letter explained that we had to pay additional premium or face having our policy cancelled.  Only after calling the insurance company I learned that photocopies of the letters weren't sufficient. I was told the content of the letters was adequate (this is important) but the original letters were required. Understandable. My parents graciously FedExed (is that a word?) from California the original documents and we promptly forwarded them to the insurance carrier. A few days later we received another letter stating we only provided evidence of 3 years of no claims so  we must pay additional premium or the policy would be cancelled. WTH? Our letters showed no claims were made during the entire span of both policies, which dated back to 2001. Grrrrr.  

I called the insurance company (calls are not free here) to find out why. Forty expensive minutes later my nice and cooperative demeanor melted into anger and frustration. No one could explain why only 3 of the 9 years were accepted. The first "excuse" was that we only submitted one original letter which covered 2008-2011. I quickly advised that both original letters happened to be in the SAME envelope which were sent by certified mail and signed for.  So if one letter was received, both letters were received. After more ranting I was placed on hold for 10 minutes. The carrier then offered to call our US insurance carriers to "verify" our policies. I was *promised* a call back. 

Nearly two days later no one had called back. At this point I was beyond frustrated so Rory decided to see if he could get anywhere with the insurance company. He was first told that only copies of the letters were received (wrong). Then he was told only one original was received (wrong again). Then he was told there was a gap in the coverage (wrong). The insurance company was reading dates the English way (day-month-year) and not the American way (month-day year). 

After the dates were cleared up another excuse emerged. We could not get the discount because our two insurance policies overlapped for a seven day period in 2008 when we changed carriers. As a result of the seven day overlap, we would not get credit for the policy which showed there was no claims between 2001-2008. Huh? Ponder that for a moment. It makes NO SENSE. This is not an English regulation but one established by some underwriter for the insurance carrier. Our letters clearly established there were no claims from 2001-2011 so why would a seven day policy overlap matter?   

Since no one could explain the made-up overlap rule we asked to speak with a manager. The manager refused to get on the phone with us because "there was nothing she could do." Instead we were *promised* a call from a team leader within 48 hours. You guessed it...no one called us back. When we called (again) it was learned that our complaint was transferred to "customer service" and we should receive a call. When we asked for the phone number of customer service we were told "they don't have one."  So far no one has attempted to contact us. Surprise, surprise. 

In the meantime, we've familiarized ourselves with the financial services laws. As Rory so aptly put it, "you don't wake a sleeping giant." 

So do you think we will have to cancel our policy?

Or do you think the insurance company will give in and give us the no claims discount?

Almost homeless

Before you groan about another pictureless (and late) post, give me the opportunity to explain.  Right now we do not have internet. We FINALLY moved into a permanent house but for some reason it takes over a month to get internet. Apparently, we have to make an application to the internet gods which is delivered by homing pigeons. This is the only explanation I could come up with as to why it could possibly take SO long to activate a phone line remotely. Thankfully we recently discovered mobile internet. Why no pictures you ask? Both of our laptops are dying at the ripe old age 4 and 5. If my calculations are correct, this is equivalent to 70 dog years and 140 human years. The laptop I use for photos refuses to turn on. I think it went on strike. 

Onto the drama with our move. I previously mentioned the difficulty we had finding a landlord that would allow dogs. In our search we found the properties willing to accept dogs were gross (I’m talking avocado green toilets, ratty carpet, moldy showers and bathrooms in the kitchen), had no yard (or garden as the English would say), or was located in the middle of nowhere country. After a month of searching we finally found a house located in Abingdon (a compromise), which is about five minutes south of Oxford. The move date coordinated perfectly with the end of our corporate housing. Since everything was falling into place  something was bound to go horribly wrong. One week before our scheduled move, and the day the lease was supposed to be signed, we were told the house failed a gas safety inspection and the landlord decided to pull the house from the market rather than make the necessary corrections. (Gasp followed by string of curse words). 

We had one week to find a place to live. No biggie, right? Wrong. In California this would not have been a huge issue because you can secure an apartment in a day and a house within a week. The leasing market here is nothing like the States. Most properties go on the market 60 days before it is available. The properties hitting the market weren't available to move into until the end of October and the homes available immediately were gross (see above). Besides, after you found a place to live the paperwork was nearly as extensive as buying a house in the States! Trouble, trouble, trouble. As you would guess, there was a mad dash to find properties to view. After an exhausting day of touring homes I received an unexpected call.  The landlord of the original property decided to make the corrections. I was annoyed and elated at the same time. We wouldn't be homeless after all! Crisis averted. 

After all of the drama we finally moved into the Abingdon house one week ago.  Most of our belongings arrived unharmed. Although I have this odd sense that we are missing quite a few things. Overall it feels odd to transition from property owner to renter. Even though we are now surrounded by our own belongings it doesn't feel like our home. I guess you could say that despite being in a house, I still feel homeless.