fbpx
Get ahead of the crowd with Premium
Login
Register Forgot password

Ask Jasmine June: Where can I get holiday insurance?

Isobel Lawrance 2nd Jun 2023 No Comments

Welcome to Ask Jasmine, the column where I round up some of the questions I have received from readers. In this edition, I answer questions about holiday insurance, Nectar cards and royal memorabilia.

I hope these answers can help you with any questions you may have. Don’t forget to leave any questions or money saving tips you have in the comments below or email me on [email protected].

 

 

Where can I get holiday insurance?

Please can you help me with holiday insurance? I am about to reach 80 years old, and insurance with Lloyds Bank runs out then. Where can I go? 

Jasmine says:

Hi there, 

Unfortunately, we are not experts in this area and therefore are not qualified to recommend any particular company.  

Having looked online, I have included links below to some that I have found. You could also try going on a comparison site such as Compare The Market, however, they may not cover all the insurance companies. 

Links to some that I have found are below. 

I would also recommend looking at any reviews of the companies online. I do hope this helps! 

Having trouble with Nectar cards

Dear Jasmine, 

I must take great exception to your suggestion that “If you have a Nectar card and shop in Sainsbury’s, you will be able to get extra discounts – up to 30% – off a range of products (which you elaborate on) just by swiping your Nectar app or card at the till”.  

I shop, and have for nearly forty years now at Sainsbury’s and have raised this issue almost two years ago now with the Manager of this store that since the introduction of the “app”, such extra cash discounts on certain products – which are communicated by email weekly to registered Nectar card holders – are only available if you have a smart phone and scan it and your card at the store. 

The only eligible offers accessible to non-smart phone technology owners by swiping the nectar card at the check-out tills are the “extra nectar points” offers available on a very small number of specified products (varying but usually at most a dozen products). These are communicated in different weekly offers emails to registered Nectar Card customers with a validity duration of seven days. Needless to say, these extra points have a cash equivalent of mere coppers (sorry but am from the old money generation!), far less that the ones being boasted about and promoted via the app. 

After a face-to-face meeting with the store Manager, I was assured the company would be making “customer accessible smart technology units” available to customers not having Smartphones to enable them to benefit from these promotions. These have not materialised and various challenges to staff on this clear bias against oldies, who only have basic mobile phones. It has been pointed out on more than one occasion that “if we don’t have our own smart phone with the enabled Nectar app on it then there is no way we can benefit from this promotion” … implying that this is not their problem. 

Where this argument/defence/excuse totally falls apart is that there are indeed FOUR handsets at the self-service check out tills section in this store. When I challenged a staff member about their non-availability to customers, the response was that “these are only available to staff on duty to enable them to check prices in response to any queries from customers”. 

Compare and contrast the Asda store (same floor area as this Sainsbury store located at the other end of our Manor Walks Shopping Centre) which has sixty handsets readily available for customers like me, who do not own smart phone technology. 

I thank you for your time in reading this response. 

Jasmine says:

The offer that I referred to was a new one launched that week by Sainsburys with discounts on products bought instore or online. One of our team carried out a spot check in their local store and the offers were on display.  

I have included some links below to their Press Release which confirms the offers are available to customers using either the app or have a physical Nectar card which you can swipe at the till. 

https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/news/latest-news/2023/11-04-2023-sainsburys-customers-can-save-big-with-new-nectar-prices

You can see product offers online below: 

https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/news/latest-news/2023/11-04-2023-sainsburys-customers-can-save-big-with-new-nectar-prices

I do hope this helps. 

Is my signed royal speech worth anything?

Dear Jasmine,

Many years ago I visited the place where Diana Princess of Wales is buried. We pulled into the car park at Althorpe and was informed Charles Spencer was in the library, would we like to meet him.

On the shelves in the library were copies of the speech his lordship made in Westminster Abbey. The speech was £25 per copy, I purchased a copy and Charles Spencer agreed to personally sign a copy.

My question is how valuable is this bound signed copy of his speech now? 

Jasmine says:

Unfortunately, we are not experts, but having looked online there are a couple of copies being sold on eBay, one being listed at £299.00.  

It would be worth contacting some local auctions houses who may be able to give you a valuation or at least point you in the right direction. 

With the Coronation last month, I would hope that it would generate more interest. 

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Jasmine Birtles

Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.

Jasmine Birtles

Send this to a friend