Author: Richard

Insurance Settlement

| Richard

Just to bring everything up to date, whilst I was on holiday, eBike Insurance‘s loss adjusters wrote to me offering a settlement of 3,500. I decided to mull this over whilst I was away again, but on my return I found a cheque from them for that sum in full and final settlement.

This amounted to quite a substantial loss to me but when I went through the policy and the small print, I realised they were actually being fair. I’d stated the value of the bike as 4,000 – eBay adverts the week of the theft showed that was under-stated – and whilst I was aware there was a 250 theft excess, I’d ignored/overlooked the clause that says if the bike isn’t garaged at the time in a locked garage, the excess rises by 250.

So quite a loss to me, but I can’t fault them for the speed with which they settled my claim. Recommended.

Bid Rigging and Price Fixing in the Construction Industry

| Richard

As usual, it’s the construction industry getting a hard time for dodgy dealings: first there was the issue about cover pricing that was then somehow translated into bid rigging in the media. A lot of hot air over what was practically nothing…

Now there’s news that the OFT has fined six recruitment agencies £39M for fixing fees.

I wonder when we’ll see similar fines for agencies working in other business sectors?

Or how about some massive fines to the banks for price fixing both in relation to bank charges and interest rates?

Or what about members of the BPI for price fixing? You’ll remember they sued online retailer CD WOW! for daring to sell legitimate CDs in the UK that had been sourced from Hong Kong for less than the prices they were being sold for in the UK. Much the same as the lengthy dispute between Levis and Tescos over parallel importing.

I won’t hold my breath.

Internet-Only Football Coverage

| Richard

So the England -v- Ukraine football match will only be available to view (at cost) on the Internet.

“[Kentaro] said Kentaro would take a maximum of one million subscribers for the match – which he said equates to about 2.5 million viewers – because this would be the “safe number to stop at to ensure the optimal broadcast”.

Hmm. I’m not sure my broadband connection – as much as 768kbps at times… –  will ever provide “the optimal broadcast” for any streaming media.

“Andrew Croker, executive chairman of Perform, insisted England fans would “embrace” the internet broadcast.

“I think consumers are pretty sophisticated now, particularly in the UK, where we have been in the vanguard of adopting new technology,” he told BBC Sport.

“I think people want a choice – the chance to watch football in a different way. This is pioneering, very exciting and I think people will enjoy it.”

Yes it would be a different way for me – rather than high quality and effectively free broadcast on my television, I can have intermittent and choppy images on my Mac if I’m prepared to pay through the nose for it. Well guess what: I’m not!

Cover Pricing

| Richard

So the OFT has fined construction firms £129.5M for cover pricing.

Contrary to what was said on BBC Breakfast this morning, “cover pricing” is not telling other firms what your price is to enable them to price higher – that’s bid fixing or price rigging and is what record companies, banks and insurance companies and the like continue to do.

No, as “Building” magazine succinctly describes it:

“Cover pricing is when a firm tenders for a contract with a high price in order to avoid winning the job. The aim is to remain on the client’s future tender list while avoiding taking on work it does not have capacity for in the immediate term.”

So not as bad as everyone is making it out to be, surely?

Tony Bingham also sums it up quite nicely in an article he wrote here:
http://www.tonybingham.co.uk/column/2008/20080516.htm

But of course the OFT and others need to be seen to be doing something, even if that means driving hard-pressed builders to the wall. One that someone else might have put a cover price in for…

Humberside Police – Speed Enforcement Breaching Guidelines?

| Richard

Last night I was travelling through Waltham when I drove past one of Blunderside’s finest trying to catch speeding motorists.

It was dark, around 9.00pm, and in contravention of ACPO guidelines, the officer was not wearing his high visibility jacket and his marked car was concealed from the main road.

Looks like he was down on his quota…

I probably wasn’t speeding and in any event there was another, similar-sized vehicle I was following (see those guidelines again), so I’ll be very surprised if a ticket comes my way.

Independent Safeguarding Authority

| Richard

Well! Isn’t this a complete waste of time?

The Government’s new Vetting & Barring Scheme comes into effect next year. As a Youth Football Coach, I will have to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority or face a £5,000 fine. This is over and above my current CRB-checked status (x2 so far…).

So this has to be A Good Thing, doesn’t it, as it will no doubt protect the boys I coach. Well … no, not according to the ISA themselves:

Q21. What does being ‘ISA-registered’ mean?
• ISA-registered means:
- No information is held that demonstrates the person poses a risk of harm to
children or vulnerable adults.
- A person’s registration status is continuously monitored and if any new
information such as a relevant caution or conviction, or information from
employers comes to light, the ISA is informed, they will re-assess the
person’s potential risk to vulnerable groups and they may chose to bar the
individual.
• ISA-registered does not mean:
- That someone is “safe” or has been “cleared to work”
- That the ISA has scrutinised all information held on them, not least because
new information may be coming in all the time.

Q21. What does being ‘ISA-registered’ mean?

• ISA-registered means:

- No information is held that demonstrates the person poses a risk of harm to children or vulnerable adults.

- A person’s registration status is continuously monitored and if any new information such as a relevant caution or conviction, or information from employers comes to light, the ISA is informed, they will re-assess the person’s potential risk to vulnerable groups and they may chose to bar the individual.

• ISA-registered does not mean:

- That someone is “safe” or has been “cleared to work”

- That the ISA has scrutinised all information held on them, not least because new information may be coming in all the time.

[emphasis added]

So yet another complete and utter waste of time from yet another quango, especially as this new ISA Registration will not be replacing CRB checks!

RIP Grib

| Richard

I found out today that a young lady nicknamed Grib died in July when riding her new Fireblade, killed by some idiot who chose to do a U-turn on a dual carriageway in front of her.

She was an experienced road rider and club racer but even she was unable to avoid the collision that took her life and robbed her partner, Tony, of the love of his life.

RIP Lucie.

Onboard Footage Fail

| Richard

Damn!

I took a Sony DCRSR57E Handycam Camcorder With Built-in 80GB Hard Disc Drive (61hrs) – Silverwith me to a recent trackday at Rockingham last month, through the Motorcycle Folly as usual, and set out to record a session following two mates on ZRXes. I came in after the session eager to see the footage as I’d followed them for a few laps before buggering off to chase down some sport bikes.

Sadly there was no footage and the camcorder was reporting a hard disk drive error. The vibrations had been too much for it and although it did sort itself out, it seems like I need to go to flash memory on the bike.

UK Border Agency

| Richard

Entering the UK via Humberside Airport (or how to piss off 200+ UK citizens) with the capable assistance of the UK Border Agency.

I recently travelled through Humberside Airport on holiday. This is not a busy airport: they say they are:

“…a key national and international gateway to Northern and Eastern England, connecting over half a million passengers to 30 destinations every year.”

On the day I returned to the UK, they were handling roughly one incoming flight per hour. Which was just as well, as it took the UK Border Agency over an hour to actually allow me back into the country along with all the other pissed-off passengers on the charter flight.

The UKBA say:

“With tougher checks now in place at the border you may have to wait a little longer to get into the United Kingdom, especially at peak times. We use scanners to ensure that passports, visas and other official documents are genuine. Our officers are trained to detect forgeries and check that people have the right to enter the United Kingdom.

“An officer will check your passport and give you permission to stay, if you need it. We aim to see you within 45 minutes.

“If you are a national of the EU or EEA, you can use the separate EEA/EU channel, where we will usually check your passport or national identity card more quickly.”

ORLY?

Well at Humberside there’s one channel for non-EU travellers and there’s the main bit. The two numpties on duty when I came through looked as though they were on day release from an old folks’ home and clearly relished the opportunity to have a chat with each and every passenger. Presumably these two are what the UKBA refer to as “scanners” because they didn’t actually use any equipment other than their reading glasses and mouths… So after an hour’s queuing, I finally got through their vigorous entry procedures. Just as well it’s not like this at the UK airports I usually travel through on business…