Hammered at the Last Chance Saloon

Tuesday 29th September 2009

By Steve Devine, business development manager, IGI Insurance

This week has been a belter so far. (Its only Tuesday but I am already fed up!) For a start, I am not feeling too good, sore throat, chesty cough etc.

The mighty Hammers have also set out their stall and it is obviously going to be a very long, hard, and painful season. We have not beaten any club above us, which is quite alarming when you’re third from bottom, last night's visit to Man City being no exception.
 
On the work front, today's Consultation paper 09/23 from the FSA has not helped lighten my mood much either. I have not actually read it yet (very honest Steve – ed.) but the press release and newsletter that accompanied it made it fairly clear that it is not going to be an easy read. The quote that stands out is from Jon Pain, FSA managing director of retail markets -
 
" This is the last chance for the industry to show that it can act fairly, consistently and in the best interest of consumers
on PPI. All firms operating in this sector should take note and where necessary get their house in order. Where we find
questionable practices in sales or complaint handling, firms can expect that we will take action."

I think Zola should invite Jon to present the Hammer's next pre match team talk.
 
Talking of banks, I tried to get through to a person in the bank that I use today to tell them that I was making a large withdrawal to buy a car. What a performance that turned out to be. I spent a considerable amount of time attempting to shout my account number, sort code and DOB into a machine that was hard of hearing. I was finally thwarted when I didn't have my security code available. So I tried again, saying that I didn't have my account information to hand. Remarkably I was put through to a human being, who was very nice and chatty but who could not be of assistance other than providing me with another phone number to ring. I gave up at that point.
 
On reflection, my concern is that, I have been with this same bank  and West Ham for decades, putting up with this treatment.

Should I swap allegiances and make life a lot easier by supporting Man Utd and banking at ................? All suggestions welcome….

Steve Devine is business development manager at IGI insurance Company and chairs Protect - the Association of UK Creditor Insurers
Steve joined IGI this year from Cardif Pinnacle (formerly Pinnacle Insurance) where he spent 15 years, the last seven as the head of group corporate communications. Before that he was head of general insurance with Hambro Countrywide, the estate agency group.
Steve is married with four children and as a long-suffering West Ham fan, he has learned to cope with difficult and extended lean times.