Crisis / Aviva
Now that I live in a flat, my mail appears magically in a pigeon hole. Sometimes, it is me who works this magic, making sure that generic letters etc get distributed to the correct resident.
Unsolicited mail is up for debate. Some seems to go into the pigeon holes, others seem to go into a big basket-of-disdain by the door.
Yesterday, I found myself Bastion of the Mail. I tucked various bills and goodies into slots and was left with 6 appeals from Crisis, the homeless charity and 6 from Aviva no less, asking residents if they might consider taking out salary insurance now that sickness benefits have been cut to the bone!!
I made the executive decision to distribute the Crisis appeal and bin Aviva. The irony of it being me who found these angel/devil mailshots did not, however, escape me....
So now your the power of telling others of what to have or not have, I took out earning protection when working on a job which was classed as dangerous, also health protection thank god. When I had my accident the sickness payments was £23.76 a week because I had protection I was given £120, then when I needed an operation to my spine the NHS stated it would not fund it under New labour, and the insurance paid it cost £100,000. When doctors stated I would not work again they made a one off payments of £100,000.
ReplyDeleteNow then people have no rights to tell others what to do or not do in life
Oh get off your bloody high horse Robert! It's in the box of disdain if they want it - I just picked out a pizza menu myself.
ReplyDeleteYou come on here, every day, with your doom and gloom telling my readers that there is no hope, when hope is what I try very hard to give them.
You bang on and on about how you know best over blue badges and how "you're alright jack" because you retired.
Well, cynical or spiteful, give it a rest eh? As my Mum says, if you've got nothing nice to say.....
Oh,FFS. If people want or can get that kind of insurance, they'll buy it. I'm sure they're not held back by the lack of unsolicited junk mail. Jeez. Lighten up, dude.
ReplyDeletePeople who want insurance will surely go looking for it. Nobody is likely to suffer because a piece of junk mail didn't reach them.
ReplyDeleteA bit less "Oh we are so doomed" would be LOVELY on this blog. Blimey.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, that we're NOT doomed. We're in difficulties. If we band together and fight, we WILL win. It won't be easy, nobody can promise that, but we're certainly not doomed.
ReplyDeleteBecause if we really are doomed, then we all might as well jump off a cliff. And I for one would prefer the barricades to a cliff any day....
I've literally just finished a couple of tweets pointing out the insurers, particularly Unum, have manipulated the welfare cuts to sell insurance. Binning their mail is far, far better than it deserves!
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ReplyDeleteIts a battle for christs sake, people will fall some may even die. The battle is there to be won doom and gloom got no place in battle.
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so blunt people
Robert when I feel severely ill and I had unemployment protection for my wages and my mortgage it turned out it would only apply if I was "critically" ill and not just "severely" ill. Many year of premiums and payments to make sure I would not have to depend on the state (although I contributed 40% of my income) made me see the whole farce of the government and these insurance companies.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of critically ill means you have to be terminally ill is what I found out and the other premium I paid that of the Government run scheme called the NHI cost me even more per month then my private insurance did but with it also comes the stigma of being on a hand out even though you have not only paid into it but also enough for other people to be covered. This is the real lie - it is the state insurance that has taken payments and now is reneging on its social contract with the people
Jim
Hello all - thanks Sue.
ReplyDeleteI'm part of the Occupy The Media Peterloo group on Comment Is Free at the Guardian.
There are quite a few of us now, and despite the award the Graun won recently for disability issues, many of us are not happy about the papers' deal with Unum, nor do we think that coverage of benefits cuts and changes is good enough. I've been asking for a long time for an in-depth article or series on the truth about the subject.
My many posts have resulted in a commission for a small article on CIF - not ideal, but if it goes down well I might get to do what I really want.
The editor says I can have 750 words max, nowhere near enough, but I've done a piece liberally sprinkled with references to my inability to explain it properly in the space available.
If it goes up, I'll let you know.
Doom and gloom is all very well, but it IS possible to badger away at people and it IS possible to protest in the mainstream media.
And I, with support from the Peterlooers, refuse to give up until the mainstream media do something to correct the false information, disability denial, and scrounger stories so beoved of the coalition and the tabloid press.
If you google OccupyTheMediaPeterloo you'll find out what we're up to.
PS - keep the leaflets, guys. You can't afford the leccy and you'll need to keep warm.....
The only sickness insurance I had was the Government scheme (NI), & it appears the goalposts for claiming that one are moving all the time, & especially now.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if any of the firms offering insurance "in case" I lose my job would care to offer insurance "in case" I lose my benefits.
Personally false hope doesn't help me at all, someone saying "there there it will all work out well in the end somehow" leaves me cold. To have hope I'd need something tangible to hang on to, at the moment I can't see anything and I don't believe anything is going to come along.
ReplyDeleteI believe we are in fact "doomed", I believe the enemies of the welfare state yelled checkmate a long time ago. However a life without hope is a very bleak existence indeed.
To add to my statement; Sue is doing her utmost and I find no fault with her. But good grief, some of the commentary that just come in and reaffirms how hopeless they are leaves ME cold. Seriously, what is the point? Stating one time that you're rather down is sufficient - when the same comments come from people who do it day in and day out, I feel the need to change the record.
ReplyDeleteWe are, believe or not "all in this together". That means I have nothing to lose at this point, therefore I'm going to fight tooth and claw. If you're not equal to that, then don't, but leave the sackcloth and ashes commentary to yourselves. It doesn't actually help, and tends to leave ME cold.
Misery may love company, but I refuse to have tea with it. I've got Shit to Do.
Wow Oya's Daughter - that's the spirit.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been on here for a while (had to prioritise as haven't been well, and thought the Guardian battle was worth what effort I could spare) But I have to say you have a point.
I've got a WCA next week - last time, I got sent to WRAG and lost my DLA. Pants, eh?
This time I'm better prepared thanks to sites like this and others. When I think of what people like Sue do despite all her difficulties, I'm inspired to get on and follow the example.
We are amazing and we CAN make some noise.
And do "Shit" :)
Charities are their fingerprints not all over the welfare reform acts, disability and homeless charities only serve to mop-up political dissent and act as a moral prop for Lord Frued & co.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion over the last 30 years homeless and welfare charities have done more harm than good, perpetuating homelessness and poverty for their own interests, subverting the welfare state to create a client base for their own financial gain.
I think the problem with Robert he has to much money and will be unaffected by these reforms ?
ReplyDeleteYou did the right thing sue and i also may add you should only ever take out this type of insurance having taken advice from your family solicitor as the small print runs very deep and is very unlikely to pay out anything should the need arise so that's just a word of warning
I do feel down and disheartened sometimes. Who wouldn't with what is going on? And I have occasionally said so.
ReplyDeleteI have also said that I am fighting with any resource available to me. I will continue to do so. Even if it doesn't change the result in the end it won't be because I didn't try.
And who knows? If enough of us do this, fight in any way that is available to us, even if it is something small, maybe we CAN change things.
I hate junk mail. I registered with the Mailing Preference Service and the Royal Mail Door-to-Door opt-out service (for generic mail with no addressee). Also Telephone Preference Service and the Market Research Society (MRS not covered by TPS, for some silly reason, and they don't care about a person being ex-directory). Have sign by door saying happy to sign for other people's parcels, delighted to chat to Jehovah's Witnesses but NOT about religion, and saying no to political stuff and sales leaflets. Mostly does trick, although Council sign saying no junk does not deter pizza and kebab leaflets.
ReplyDelete(And one day, everyone's shed door held a beauty salon leaflet. For those sheds which are interested in Hollywood, Brazilian or other waxes. Most sheds only seem to care about being painted.)