Wednesday, November 21, 2012

JaM-Ranting about this and that

I am so happy that Jody missed JaM and has started it again. Hopefully it will get me back on track to posting a little more often than I have been of late.


So this week I am going to have a little rant about this and that because there are things going on in my little world that I just can't get my head around.
First there is the matter of House and contents insurance. Not mine, it was pretty much the same as usual. No, it is my neighbours. He lives in a very modest house that isn't worth a fortune and he is on a pension. A few weeks ago he got his House and Contents renewal notice and it had gone up from the previous year by $6000. No that isn't a typing mistake it was $6000.  Why would it go up that much? Because the insurance company has decided that he lives in a flood zone. Never mind that he has lived there for over 30 years and has never even looked like he was going to be flooded out,  they decided it was a flood zone after glancing at a map and seeing where the creek was. Anyway after getting letters from the local shire and the Water Catchment authority to say otherwise they still knocked it back because he had to have records dating back 100 years.
And they say 'We're there for you" Needless to say he is now with another insurance company who couldn't believe his story. The same company did it to my Mum too,  adding $3000 to hers because she may be subject to flooding from high tides in 25 years or so. She is now insured by someone else........
When I left school and started to apply for jobs I wrote a letter and put in a couple of written references and my birth extract. Short, simple and to the point. Today I handed in a couple of job applications to Workways. It included the application letter that had to be written to a specific formula and that briefly addressed a minimum of three of the Key selection Criteria, two pages that specifically addressed the Key Selection Criteria, my Resume that was several pages long, copies of Certificates I have attained, copy of my Police check and one also had  a four page form to fill out as well. Each application took a minimum of a day to write, cost money in regards to the police check and aren't even for permanent full time jobs. It is unbelievable just how much work goes into presenting yourself to a prospective employer and then you have to jump through a whole lot of other hoops if you manage to get an interview. I wonder sometimes if it is all worth it?

5 comments:

Jody Pearl said...

Bureaucracy - needs to justify its extistence by baffling us with BS ....you're a bigger and better person than me Jackie, I run & hide when there's paperwork to be done.

Thanks for getting the idea behind JaM and for joining in. x

Bec said...

totally agree with Jody, talk about how to keep & win business (NOT)

Paula Alice said...

I had heard of our friends and family up north with their insurances going up too for similar reasons - but not by that much!
Good luck with the job hunting, I'll be up for the same stress next year too.
Paula xx

Andrea said...

Hi Jackie, goodness what a lot of paperwork for a part-time job(it wasn't for the Prime Minister) no wonder some people give up ! How is the weather up your way at present? dry as a bone down here and already had to buy our first load of water.
Iv'e had a bit of a lull in blogging too so will try to join in with JaM again too.

simplestitches said...

yeah I love all the paperwork you need to do to apply for a job, my eldest daughter has just had to do the same thing...and dealing with Centrelink...don't get me started on that one!

anyway I hope you are successful with whatever comes your way..

And the insurance companies sure know how to make a buck out of us, don't they?

Remember those Jacobean lily bulbs you sent me? I planted them out a while ago, came back from a short holiday away last week, and they had been in bloom again!I thought these only bloomed once per year? They are just lovely...so thank you once again for your kind gift Jackie.
cheers