OMG - What have I done?

[Angel57]

@Selbourne whilst I appreciate all insurance companies are different….my company was happy to extend my absence from the house from 60 days to 110 days, providing someone went in once a week to check everything and that the heating was kept on at a constant suggested temperature of 10c.

I also made sure all my bills and anything likely to become due were set up on Direct Debit.

 

[9265359]

22 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

If there are any other tips I’d be grateful,

 

Technology is pretty handy when you are away over winter for several months.

 

A Hive heating system so I can 'see' the house temperature and it will alert me if it falls too low - and setting it to fire up three times a day at six hour intervals to keep the house at a minimum 12c (its pretty well insulated so rarely falls below that anyway) as that seemed to work better and more efficiently than a 'once a day' approach. 

 

Ring cameras surrounding the house and at various locations inside, so I can keep an eye on what is going on, with alerts if someone was in the garden.

 

Automatic blinds that close at ten minutes past sunset and open again at a set time in the morning.

 

WiFi lights that turn on and off automatically (and some randomly within set times).

 

Speaker systems turning on music automatically in the evening so anyone pressing their ear to a door or window would hear something.

 

And if your neighbours are amenable, asking if they would park a car on your drive as it helps to make it look occupied.

Edited October 15, 2023 by 9265359

[Selbourne]

1 minute ago, Angel57 said:

@Selbourne whilst I appreciate all insurance companies are different….my company was happy to extend my absence from the house from 60 days to 110 days, providing someone went in once a week to check everything and that the heating was kept on at a constant suggested temperature of 10c.

I also made sure all my bills and anything likely to become due were set up on Direct Debit.

 

Thanks. That’s very useful to know and may well be the best approach. I’m just nervous that they might remove cover. I thought about calling them and saying “we are considering going away for longer” and see what they say, but that may be risky!

[daiB]

28 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Thanks. That’s very useful to know and may well be the best approach. I’m just nervous that they might remove cover. I thought about calling them and saying “we are considering going away for longer” and see what they say, but that may be risky!

As we are on Iona, I have just seen this and I can only say I am shocked!!!

 

🙂 🙂 🙂  

[9265359]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

Our home insurance is 60 days unoccupied. There doesn’t appear to be any option to extend that (it would only be by 5 days). I’ve checked the policy document and there are no clauses saying that certain things such as family staying for a period don’t count, 

 

Given the FOS view on this matter that they will take the "natural and ordinary meaning, taking into account the overall purpose of the contract and clause/term in question and usually adopt the meaning that’s most favourable to the customer" unless there is a "clear definition" then I am pretty surprised that *any* insurer would not have a 'clear definition' and would leave things vague to be interpreted by the FOS in the event of a claim - Unoccupied properties (financial-ombudsman.org.uk)

 

My home insurer is quite clear about what 'unoccupied' means, and if I was to be away for more than the time limit then effectively the house is uninsured from the day I leave as there is no cover on fire, theft, leaks, etc. - and they don't offer an option to extend the limit for a fee. And this is one of the big name reputable insurers.

 

However you can buy 'unoccupied home' insurance if you are in the position of going away for a length of time longer than your insurer will allow under your normal home insurance policy.

[Purdey16]

21 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I was informed that there is nothing further needed for the account to be valid than paying the £13 pm fee. But I would be prepared to switch some activity to it, if that is required.

John I’m interested in opening a flexi plus account now and do you know if I opened one just in my name it also covers my husband ( travel insurance) for just £13 a month do I have to open a joint account and we both pay £13 a month so £26 , I’ve just had a quick look on website but can’t find that answer .

[Selbourne]

3 minutes ago, Purdey16 said:

John I’m interested in opening a flexi plus account now and do you know if I opened one just in my name it also covers my husband ( travel insurance) for just £13 a month do I have to open a joint account and we both pay £13 a month so £26 , I’ve just had a quick look on website but can’t find that answer .

Definitely one person opening an account covers the spouse as well. I asked when setting it up yesterday and the insurance documents also clarify that, so just one £13 a month account needed. 

[Selbourne]

28 minutes ago, daiB said:

As we are on Iona, I have just seen this and I can only say I am shocked!!!

 

🙂 🙂 🙂  

What is shocking you the most Dai? 😂 Hope that you are both enjoying your cruise BTW.

[Selbourne]

11 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

Given the FOS view on this matter that they will take the "natural and ordinary meaning, taking into account the overall purpose of the contract and clause/term in question and usually adopt the meaning that’s most favourable to the customer" unless there is a "clear definition" then I am pretty surprised that *any* insurer would not have a 'clear definition' and would leave things vague to be interpreted by the FOS in the event of a claim - Unoccupied properties (financial-ombudsman.org.uk)

 

My home insurer is quite clear about what 'unoccupied' means, and if I was to be away for more than the time limit then effectively the house is uninsured from the day I leave as there is no cover on fire, theft, leaks, etc. - and they don't offer an option to extend the limit for a fee. And this is one of the big name reputable insurers.

 

However you can buy 'unoccupied home' insurance if you are in the position of going away for a length of time longer than your insurer will allow under your normal home insurance policy.

I’ll try to have a further dig around because the booklet they sent me with the policy has no further wording which, according to the link you provided, would cover me.

[terrierjohn]

19 minutes ago, Purdey16 said:

John I’m interested in opening a flexi plus account now and do you know if I opened one just in my name it also covers my husband ( travel insurance) for just £13 a month do I have to open a joint account and we both pay £13 a month so £26 , I’ve just had a quick look on website but can’t find that answer .

Yes it covers any family member that you list on the travel insurance, but presumably living at the same address. The add ons for age and cruise cover also cover all those insured, but then the medical conditions are specific to each person.

[daiB]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

What is shocking you the most Dai? 😂 Hope that you are both enjoying your cruise BTW.

We are, its hot hot  hot.

:)

[jh1809]

8 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I’ll try to have a further dig around because the booklet they sent me with the policy has no further wording which, according to the link you provided, would cover me.

I would be surprised if your daughter staying overnight at least once during the period you are away wasn't sufficient, but if you should need to claim then the insurer might ask for some proof that you weren't just saying that and that she had actually done so. I'm not sure how you would do that, so I think it would be best to speak to them. You can't be the first in this situation, so you'd expect them to have something in place to cover it.

[9265359]

38 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

I would be surprised if your daughter staying overnight at least once during the period you are away wasn't sufficient

 

Are you?

 

This is what the policy for my home insurance says (with my bolding)- 

 

"Unoccupied – By unoccupied, we mean that your home hasn’t been or won’t be lived in for more than 60 days in a row, or doesn’t contain enough furniture to be lived in normally. Regular visits to the home, or occasional overnight stays, would not count as your home being lived in or as a break in this period. You must tell us if you are planning on being away from your home for more than 60 days in a row or if your home is going to be unfurnished for any amount of time.

 

Just to be clear, wherever we use the word ‘unoccupied’ under ‘What’s not covered’; this means if your property is ‘unoccupied’ there is no cover under those parts of the policy from the first day you leave your home. The only time this will change is if you are away from your home due to unforeseen circumstances and it is not possible to contact us. If this happens, normal cover will apply for up to a maximum of 60 days but will end as soon as it would have been possible for you to contact us."

 

 

 

[9265359]

41 minutes ago, jh1809 said:

You can't be the first in this situation, so you'd expect them to have something in place to cover it.

 

Mine doesn't, other than suggest you buy additional 'unoccupied home' insurance from another company.

[Selbourne]

9 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

Mine doesn't, other than suggest you buy additional 'unoccupied home' insurance from another company.

Have you ever purchased that? Just wondering how easy it is to get & roughly how much it might be?

[9265359]

56 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Have you ever purchased that? Just wondering how easy it is to get & roughly how much it might be?

 

Not so far, because I prefer to spend a month or two away, come home for a week, then disappear for another month or two, and so on, but I am aware from a search that such products do exist - and not just for people going on long cruises, but also other (less cheerful) circumstances when a house might be unoccupied for a long time.

[lancashire_cruisers]

12 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Have you ever purchased that? Just wondering how easy it is to get & roughly how much it might be?

We looked at it last year after my Mum passed away but ultimately didn’t need it. Our quote was around £200 for 6 months and we went through Towergate insurance. The cost will depend on the condition of the house and the circumstances around of it not being occupied. My Mum’s house wasn’t in a great condition so I was expecting the quote to be high.

[swanseaboy]

Another vote 🗳️ for Flexi Plus. £13 a month - covers worldwide travel insurance, mobile phone and car 🚗 breakdown. Marvellous 👍 

[DamianG]

On 10/14/2023 at 9:19 AM, Selbourne said:

Well I guess my bubble had to burst and it has! You were spot on about the prices dropping today and they have. The Saver price for a balcony has dropped this morning from £16,400 to £9,995 😢. That’s obviously for the lowest grade, which we aren’t in, but I am now thinking that had we called today we would have saved well over another £1k from what we paid yesterday! Obviously I am extremely relieved that we didn’t book at the Select price of £20k, or when the Saver price was nearly £18k (as I had called back then to enquire and balconies were sold out) or even at the £16,400 that the website quoted yesterday when I called, as I think I’d be heartbroken, but none the less…… I shall just have to tell myself that there will be plenty of others paying a lot more than we have and, just possibly, had I left it until today the one accessible balcony cabin that had come up as a result of a cancellation would have gone. I’ll never know and mustn’t be greedy as we are extremely happy with the price we paid. 
 

I’m aware of the yellow fever requirement. Is there a minimum time that it’s needed before you travel? Had a quick look and didn’t notice. 
 

Yes, I can see that insurance is going to be very expensive. In the first instance I’m going to see how much it would be to add USA & Caribbean cover, plus extended stay (assuming that we need that) to our existing annual travel insurance policy with Aviva (which already covers my wife’s condition). That policy happens to expire on the last day of the cruise, which may be handy, although we don’t have missed port cover. I can live with that having never had it, but if I have to  get a brand new policy elsewhere I will try to get that included. I will also look at the Nationwide Flex Plus policy that @terrierjohn mentioned, although that will probably need add ons for extended stay as well as my wife’s condition. In the meantime I might just thoroughly depress myself and see how many thousands it would cost to buy a stand alone new policy in the market. From your extensive knowledge in this area, would you recommend anyone in particular?

 

On a brighter note, I had been worrying about how we would get to and from Southampton given that parking would presumably be prohibitive (it wasn’t even included in the Select fare). I’d been assuming taxis and £200-300 each way, given that trains aren’t an option. Miraculously, I have booked with CPS for just £160. I’m sure I’ve seen prices more than that for just a fortnight! 

 

I've just caught up with this and echo other's thoughts on being decisive, "going for it", "taking your opportunities" etc. Rather than be bugged by the potential further saving I think you should just focus on the fact that there was one suitable cabin left at a bargain price which you grabbed with both hands. It could quite easily have been a case of holding fire, missing out then spending a lot of time early next year thinking about what might have been.

 

I'm absolutely thrilled for you both and look forward to hearing about your adventure next year.

 

Best regards.

 

Damian

[Selbourne]

There has been an absolutely staggering development that I must share, as full marks are due to both our TA and P&O for this.

 

To briefly re-cap, when we booked this 65 night cruise at the end of last week, the price we paid for a ‘late saver’ (for two in a Balcony cabin) was £11,998 (prior to TA discount). This was against a Select price of £19,998 (with £1,190 OBC) and a ‘Saver’ price of £16,400 (as per P&O website), so we thought we had a great deal, especially as we were told that the price was going up the next day. Anyway, within 12 hours of booking, rather than go up, the late saver price appeared on the P&O website and had dropped to ‘from £9,998’. I resigned myself to the fact that we were still getting the cruise at a great price and we had secured an accessible balcony cabin (that hadn’t been available prior to balance due date).

 

However, something had been niggling away at me - where had the £11,998 price come from? On the day we booked, the Saver price was £16,400 which was presumably a normal saver, not a late one. Thanks to excellent advice from @Megabear2 (who had said that late savers for that cruise wouldn’t normally kick in until the day after we booked - being balance due date plus 7 days) I had looked again the next day and, sure enough, whilst not promoted as a ‘late’ saver, the saver price had dropped from £16,400 to £9,998 overnight. That was clearly the ‘late saver’ kicking in. So why had we been charged £11,998? Surely it should have been £16,400 as a standard Saver or £9,998 as a late saver, there being no other prices having been advertised. 
 

My wife had suggested that I just forget about it as we were happy with the price, but this question was niggling away at me, so I decided to call our TA to try to understand it. They could see my point entirely, so said they would call P&O to discuss. Knowing from previous encounters how belligerent P&O can be about things, I fully expected the response to be a lecture on how fluid pricing worked. You can imagine my utter amazement when I got a call an hour or two later to say that P&O could see my point and were going to honour the newly advertised price of £9,998 on our booking and would be issuing me with a £2,000 refund!

 

So, after TA discount, we are now paying £9,500 for 65 nights on Aurora, with our accessible balcony cabin assigned (very happy with it as we’ve used it before). The deposit from our now cancelled Ventura cruise is being further deducted from this £9,500 and we get £150 shareholder OBC as well. I’m still in shock and, credit where credit is due, I have to give both our TA and P&O full marks for this. Good job that I didn’t heed my wife’s advice 😂 

 

As previously mentioned, it is worth @TigerB @terrierjohn and others who need accessible cabins being aware that if you need an accessible cabin and you book a late saver, P&O will only charge you for the lowest grade balcony cabin, but will instantly assign you a specific accessible cabin even if it is a number of grades higher (as ours was). Others may already know this, but it’s the first time we have ever booked a late saver, so it’s all new to us. 

[TigerB]

You're just rubbing it in now!🙄😂

 

BTW - can you pick our lottery numbers for this weekend?😉

[Interestedcruisefan]

In comparison:

 

My mum and dad are doing saga 21 nights in November to the Canaries

 

Paying 5.5k per person ie 11k in  total

 

Their friend travelling alone with them has paid 11k for single occupancy of a double cabin (she can afford it don't worry)

 

Saga must be truly amazing compared to P and O I guess ?

 

Portsmouth round trip

 

Spirit of Adventure

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[terrierjohn]

39 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

There has been an absolutely staggering development that I must share, as full marks are due to both our TA and P&O for this.

 

To briefly re-cap, when we booked this 65 night cruise at the end of last week, the price we paid for a ‘late saver’ (for two in a Balcony cabin) was £11,998 (prior to TA discount). This was against a Select price of £19,998 (with £1,190 OBC) and a ‘Saver’ price of £16,400 (as per P&O website), so we thought we had a great deal, especially as we were told that the price was going up the next day. Anyway, within 12 hours of booking, rather than go up, the late saver price appeared on the P&O website and had dropped to ‘from £9,998’. I resigned myself to the fact that we were still getting the cruise at a great price and we had secured an accessible balcony cabin (that hadn’t been available prior to balance due date).

 

However, something had been niggling away at me - where had the £11,998 price come from? On the day we booked, the Saver price was £16,400 which was presumably a normal saver, not a late one. Thanks to excellent advice from @Megabear2 (who had said that late savers for that cruise wouldn’t normally kick in until the day after we booked - being balance due date plus 7 days) I had looked again the next day and, sure enough, whilst not promoted as a ‘late’ saver, the saver price had dropped from £16,400 to £9,998 overnight. That was clearly the ‘late saver’ kicking in. So why had we been charged £11,998? Surely it should have been £16,400 as a standard Saver or £9,998 as a late saver, there being no other prices having been advertised. 
 

My wife had suggested that I just forget about it as we were happy with the price, but this question was niggling away at me, so I decided to call our TA to try to understand it. They could see my point entirely, so said they would call P&O to discuss. Knowing from previous encounters how belligerent P&O can be about things, I fully expected the response to be a lecture on how fluid pricing worked. You can imagine my utter amazement when I got a call an hour or two later to say that P&O could see my point and were going to honour the newly advertised price of £9,998 on our booking and would be issuing me with a £2,000 refund!

 

So, after TA discount, we are now paying £9,500 for 65 nights on Aurora, with our accessible balcony cabin assigned (very happy with it as we’ve used it before). The deposit from our now cancelled Ventura cruise is being further deducted from this £9,500 and we get £150 shareholder OBC as well. I’m still in shock and, credit where credit is due, I have to give both our TA and P&O full marks for this. Good job that I didn’t heed my wife’s advice 😂 

 

As previously mentioned, it is worth @TigerB @terrierjohn and others who need accessible cabins being aware that if you need an accessible cabin and you book a late saver, P&O will only charge you for the lowest grade balcony cabin, but will instantly assign you a specific accessible cabin even if it is a number of grades higher (as ours was). Others may already know this, but it’s the first time we have ever booked a late saver, so it’s all new to us. 

What a great saving Selborne, plus your £4500 saving on your travel insurance, that is one heck of a saving you have made on this cruise.👍

[Selbourne]

6 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

What a great saving Selborne, plus your £4500 saving on your travel insurance, that is one heck of a saving you have made on this cruise.👍

Indeed John and what a great community that we have on here. I would not have got the cruise or the travel insurance for anything like these prices had it not been for the extremely helpful advice from all of you. Hopefully by sharing these experiences more of us can benefit in the future. 

[Son of Anarchy]

Great result Selbourne.  This was meant to be for you both.