Monday, 27 September 2010

Insurance companies, do they want the business?

One of the best feelings I've ever had in my life was being told by my driving examiner that I had passed my driving test. I was so relieved especially as it was my third attempt. But despite this case of successful driving, teenagers between 17 and 19 may have to accept the fact they may not be able to drive their own car for a while.

This is because car insurance companies will not insure teenagers who have just passed their test. I was staggered by the quotes I was given online. The most expensive I found was £8000. But this was not for some supercar with a V8 engine I was quoting for, it was a Peugeot 206 from 1996 with a 1 litre engine. Now this just seems to me that car insurance companies simply don't want the business and are stereotyping every teenager. These companies all think that every teenager is someone who breaks the speed limit and drives like a lunatic.

But not everyone is like that and insurance companies are denying sensible drivers from a sense of freedom and independence. So if teenagers can't commute to work or socialise with friends by car how are they meant to get around? Trains are far too expensive, buses are unreliable and don't take you where you really want to go and bicycles are dangerous in busy areas like London.

The message is simple, make driving cheaper and make everyone happy.

Thursday, 23 September 2010

An appointment you can actually arrive early to

Now, like most people I go to the doctor's every six months or so. Most people reading this will probably have gone through the same NHS routine. You turn up on time to your appointment, you sit down next to an elderly woman and read some random niche-targeted magazine (i.e. Fishing Magazine) to pass the time.

But then you look up at the clock and it's already 30 minutes past your appointment. And you think WHAT! There's nobody here, all the doctor's are in, what is going on? I got thinking, what are the doctor's doing between appointments? Are they deliberately taking their time by trying to solve the meaning of life?

I don't know.

But a few weeks ago I had an appointment and turned up early as usual, quickly signed in at reception and before I even sat down my name was called out. I was genuinely surprised and my appointment was so quick that I left the doctor's before the original time of my appointment. Brilliant!

Conservatives who read the Daily Mail are obsessed with the idea that the NHS is a waste of taxpayer's money. I was initially unsure of whether the NHS is worthwhile. After my last appointment, it definitely well is.