Amsterdam's finest

Insurance as an industry has been going for a 300 years and it’s very easy for those who work in it to think of themselves as in a holier than thou business.  As an in industry it exports its services brilliantly and to many recipients of the service what the UK offers is on many occasions second to none……perhaps because they are so few competitors to what the UK provides.

Saying that on a macro scale, we should all be happy of what the industry at the corporate level does, and the taxes it brings in. But given we all lead pretty insular lives at street level and not in ivory towers most of us don’t really care much for that kind of news as its too big and boring to comprehend. 

With that in mind you can rest assured I will not be looking to bore you with insurance today or at any time but just alert you to things that happen and inform you of what we are up to here at Trident 2 storey buildings…..sorry there are no ivory towers here. 

With that in mind you will know we had our Christmas party in Amsterdam where save for the meals the lads appeared to do ‘lad’ things and the girls seemed to prefer to go shopping. I would add that the choice of destination was a free vote and unbelievably unanimous.

For sure Amsterdam lives up to its reputation, in fact probably more so but the smell of "Amsterdam's  finest" is pretty hard to get to grips with.  I was presented with a ‘coffee’ cake and knew it had to be a set up but even just picking at the surface it didn’t take long before I felt a bit dizzy, one things for sure there was absolutely no coffee in that cake!!.  We never got near to seeing the Anne Frank Museum, let alone the Rembrandt or Van Gogh ones, culture bug readers will think we are absolute philistines,  but in our defence  we were  there to party and celebrate the end of a tough year and the Museums will have to be seen another time I guess. 

One thing is certain the Dutch people are extremely polite and friendly, but it is an expensive place and the duty free at the airport is the last place you want to buy anything from. Would I go back? I think yes, but maybe when the weather is warmer.

As for returning back to normality here it didn’t take long, like all breaks good or even bad ones we see them as away from here and suddenly it’s all lovely jubbly. 

Easyjet were good. But is there really a need to show your tickets and passports 5 times before you eventually sit down in your seat?  

Anyway do I have a message for you that’s at least kind of insurance related?  Well yes actually, just please lock up over the Christmas/New year period if you’re going out or away, keep some lights on when you’re out, and love a neighbour sufficiently to get them to check all is good with your home.  

Have a great time whatever you’re doing, even if you’re just baah humbugging everyone else and from all of us here at Trident Insurance we wish you a truly Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Healthy 2012.

I’ll update you in January  

Cheers, Robert       

What went wrong?

Hi, this is the first of many blogs that I hope will cast some light on what we do and what pitfalls can hit even the most seasoned and smart folk.

As a company we’re based in north east London, but that doesn’t mean we have no idea what’s going on or where to go with inquires. In fact we receive calls from all over the UK so we have to be informed and there are no excuses not to be.

We don’t believe in giving advice as there is no reason to. It’s your hard earned money and if the information we provide is full -and we believe it always will be - and the choice of provider good, then why should we need to advise. Our policy is it’s your money you need to decide how to spend it. 

Our staff are knowledgeable  and most importantly helpful ,and where we don’t have an immediate answer because it requires dealing directly with a specialist underwriter, we will let you know straight up. 

This weekend is our Christmas party so I will endeavour to get some photos out for next time, but taking the theme of Christmas it does lead people to believe that all will be happiness and joy. But it’s also a time when burglars are out there big time, and with the best will in the world we all need to make sure what we have is secure. So please make sure you lock up when you’re out, and leave a few lights on with maybe the radio on as well. Also maybe close some curtains.   

In truth it’s hard to excite anyone about insurance, given we are all bombarded daily with happy smiley families on tv and how wonderful life is,not forgetting all claims handling adverts to boot. But things do go wrong. We have a client who insured some decent paintings and then one was damaged in transit. She put in a claim and was told by the Insurance company that she had undervalued. 

What went wrong? She insisted she knew what they were worth and I reckon didn’t want to pay for a separate valuation that could lead to a higher premium, thinking as we all do that its not me who gets the accident, and we placed her on cover. 

That’s all cool, but it’s hard for an Insurer to pay over what the given valuation was. So in short they didn’t. She was totally hacked off and couldn’t see that good stuff doesn’t stay at 20 year old valuations. The result was she’s had to take it on the chin, but has now got up to date valuations on cover.  

So where you have a lot of good things, please don’t think you necessarily know all their values. It’s incredible how all the bits tot up, and for sure it may cost more to get the full cover secure. But aren’t you and your possessions worth that, and what value is Christmas if you don’t look after your home as well as your family? 

It’s easy to begrudge paying for insurance and yes there’s a lot of choice out there, and there’s also a lot of policies that aren’t worth the paper they’re written on, when you look at all the exemptions! 

At Trident, we won’t give you bull just how we see it, so please don’t undervalue and always make sure you lock your home securely.  Yes, times are tough but you can’t get good cover on the cheap!

Cheers   Robert