The new news 24 thread

[horriblemercedes]

  On 11/04/2025 at 09:01, New POD said:

Is royal mail still owned by the government?  Don't government agencies self insure, underwritten by the treasury....? 

I know NHS company vehicles definitely are. 

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Not for about 25 years now.

[EyesWeldedShut]

  On 11/04/2025 at 09:01, New POD said:

Is royal mail still owned by the government?  Don't government agencies self insure, underwritten by the treasury....? 

I know NHS company vehicles definitely are. 

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NHS (like Plod) are exempt from third  party insurance (see Sec 144 RTA) - ditto councils and the like. RM are not exempt there but they (most likely) go down the 'lodge a security' route whereby you give a bung to the govt. in return for being third party exempt.
I think London Transport used to do the security thing but TfL these days actually have a policy? Large payouts could be the cause of that one.

On another note - our Postie is now driving a hire van, the 13 reg Partner seems to have collapsed.

[Yoss]

  On 11/04/2025 at 09:01, New POD said:

Is royal mail still owned by the government?  Don't government agencies self insure, underwritten by the treasury....? 

I know NHS company vehicles definitely are. 

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I think that's what @richardmorris was asking. We've been a private company since 2006 and will soon (maybe by the end of this month) be wholly owned by a Czech billionaire. I'm just a lowly postman so I've no idea how the insurance works now. 

[New POD]

  On 11/04/2025 at 09:10, horriblemercedes said:

Not for about 25 years now.

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That will explain why they are so efficient. 

[cort1977]

  On 11/04/2025 at 09:53, New POD said:

That will explain why they are so efficient. 

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Indeed, it really vindicates the Friedman / Thatcher philosophy of privatisation and paved the way for other resounding successes with electricity and water.

[chaseracer]

  On 19/03/2025 at 21:18, stuboy said:

thank you,  weeks annual leave going too waste, so far

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If you're sick, you're entitled to claim back the relevant amount of leave entitlement.

[loserone]

  On 11/04/2025 at 09:45, Yoss said:

just a lowly postman so I've no idea how the insurance works now.

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That's interesting, is it not the responsibility of the driver to ensure that they are legally insured?

[lesapandre]

  On 11/04/2025 at 12:21, loserone said:

That's interesting, is it not the responsibility of the driver to ensure that they are legally insured?

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Interesting legal point. As the driver is responsible for the vehicle should they do a basic check before driving off?

Hardly anyone will. Could say the same of hire cars. I mean who would open the bonnet?

[Yoss]

  On 11/04/2025 at 12:21, loserone said:

That's interesting, is it not the responsibility of the driver to ensure that they are legally insured?

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  On 11/04/2025 at 13:47, lesapandre said:

Interesting legal point. As the driver is responsible for the vehicle should they do a basic check before driving off?

Hardly anyone will. Could say the same of hire cars. I mean who would open the bonnet?

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I don't currently drive, I have a trolley, but I think I can safely say everybody just assumes the company have got the insurance sorted. We are supposed to do a van check each morning to ensure it is roadworthy (which of course means checking that the tape holding the doors on is fit for purpose). We do get reminded of this on a fairly regular basis but insurance is never mentioned. 

[horriblemercedes]

The thing is, how would you do it in practice?

 

You can look on AskMID and see if the vehicle is insured, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are insured to drive it.

 

In a business like that, vehicles will be under a common policy that has certain exclusions (age, health, convictions for example. These specifics will vary).

 

So should you every day demand a copy of the fleet insurance documents and pore through them, just in case there has been a change since yesterday and you are now excluded?

[comfortablynumb]

Technically, @horriblemercedes, yes.

 

[barefoot]

As some of you may have a minor inkling, I despise the naming of vehicles but today I collected the bay of lasting joy* from the gariage 

I'd like to hope that you all appreciate the brand new rear bumper, which in reality is the correct colour and finally replaced the last remaining original panel.

*the exception which proves the rule.

[barefoot]

Fuck me, that rear numberplate's in the wrong spot!

[Split_Pin]

Gave this a polish and wax after work this afternoon after going at some scratches with Farcela G3. I also got the badly tarnished tailpipe looking a bit better.

Have to say it came up really well. Front bumper needs a repaint though.

[SiC]

Beautiful day down in the west country today.

Spitty looked decidedly dirty from the Midget filler dust getting everywhere. Plus sand from when it got left out the other week for a week and it rained.

I really must sort this crusty bit sometime before it gets worse. The painted filler falling off will be a handy paint swatch too. 

Jizzed.

Then pressure wash and hand bucket washed. 

Went to a local seafront for a gander this afternoon after my gym session as I had the day off.

Warm enough today to not even need a jumper when driving! Shame it's not lasting.

[WillCarter]

It's been a funny old week in the life of reputable second hand car dealer. Had two sales fall through, one because she decided she didn't like the colour and the other because a Skoda Citigo isn't a Volkswagen Up. Then just to stick the knife in further I had someone else decide against a test drive on a car when they discovered it had manual windows and they might find themselves in a situation when they need to wind down windows fast. Nowt as queer as folk I suppose.

While passing trade has been essentially nil, I do have stuff leaving over the next couple of days and I'm hopeful that a pleasant weekend forecast might bring out some Saturday buyers... they're much needed.

But on the plus side I did have an out of MOT MG ZT turn up that's sure to fly* out. 

[Six-cylinder]

  On 11/04/2025 at 06:35, comfortablynumb said:

When I worked for a body shop, we had a MK2 astra come in with front end damage, was fairly new then, wings, bonnet, headlights etc.

When repair was completed and the owner called to collect, she played merry hell that 'the paint didn't match'

She went on about it so much, the insurance company paid for several hours labour to mop & polish the whole car!

She definitely knew what she was about!

 

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Many years ago a young girl pulled out of a side road into the the n-s front wing on our brown Daimler Sovereign. Mrs6C was benevolent and allowed the girls father to obtain a replacement wing, have it painted and help fit it to avoid an insurance claim.

Trouble was the wing was smart and shiny and the rest of the car very orange peel. I had to wet flat and polish and rest of the car to match the new wing!

[High Jetter]

  On 11/04/2025 at 14:49, horriblemercedes said:

The thing is, how would you do it in practice?

 

You can look on AskMID and see if the vehicle is insured, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are insured to drive it.

 

In a business like that, vehicles will be under a common policy that has certain exclusions (age, health, convictions for example. These specifics will vary).

 

So should you every day demand a copy of the fleet insurance documents and pore through them, just in case there has been a change since yesterday and you are now excluded?

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It's an interesting question. There's a copy of the page of the insurance in the van that my employee drives showing him as a named driver. That's not going to work for vans used by various employees such as posties and supermaket delivery guys etc

[lesapandre]

Spotted in Cancer Research UK shop today. New - so they will have many sets. Says it includes a poster.

[Split_Pin]

  On 11/04/2025 at 17:37, WillCarter said:

It's been a funny old week in the life of reputable second hand car dealer. Had two sales fall through, one because she decided she didn't like the colour and the other because a Skoda Citigo isn't a Volkswagen Up. Then just to stick the knife in further I had someone else decide against a test drive on a car when they discovered it had manual windows and they might find themselves in a situation when they need to wind down windows fast. Nowt as queer as folk I suppose.

While passing trade has been essentially nil, I do have stuff leaving over the next couple of days and I'm hopeful that a pleasant weekend forecast might bring out some Saturday buyers... they're much needed.

But on the plus side I did have an out of MOT MG ZT turn up that's sure to fly* out. 

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Nice! 😎 Unusual colour for a ZT, wonder if it's a monogram?

[WillCarter]

  On 11/04/2025 at 20:59, Split_Pin said:

Nice! 😎 Unusual colour for a ZT, wonder if it's a monogram?

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Not sure if it's a Monogram but it is purported to be one of just three built in gold. Only 43k on the clock too.

[Split_Pin]

  On 11/04/2025 at 22:59, WillCarter said:

Not sure if it's a Monogram but it is purported to be one of just three built in gold. Only 43k on the clock too.

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If it doesn't have HG issues and it isnt too tatty, it could be worth saving.

[WillCarter]

  On 12/04/2025 at 05:54, Split_Pin said:

If it doesn't have HG issues and it isnt too tatty, it could be worth saving.

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Yep, it's getting recommissioned regardless. It'll go for an MOT next week and then we'll see where we're at with it.

[andy18s]

  On 11/04/2025 at 17:46, Six-cylinder said:

Many years ago a young girl pulled out of a side road into the the n-s front wing on our brown Daimler Sovereign. Mrs6C was benevolent and allowed the girls father to obtain a replacement wing, have it painted and help fit it to avoid an insurance claim.

Trouble was the wing was smart and shiny and the rest of the car very orange peel. I had to wet flat and polish and rest of the car to match the new wing!

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Years ago an acquaintance had an Ur Audi Quattro which got damaged on the passenger door and rear quarter panel.

Not a happy bunny but got it sorted through insurance as normal,but noticed an issue after it was finished and dropped off.

The whole passenger side had been painted in Polar White, but the car was originally Pearlescent White and the rest of the car still was.. 

[SiC]

FFS

[Split_Pin]

Split header tank?

[SiC]

  On 12/04/2025 at 13:02, Split_Pin said:

Split header tank?

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Split top hose by the looks of it - thankfully easy to get to. 

New Febi pipe coming from Amazon tomorrow for £22

[Split_Pin]

  On 12/04/2025 at 13:49, SiC said:

Split top hose by the looks of it - thankfully easy to get to. 

New Febi pipe coming from Amazon tomorrow for £22

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Not too bad then!

[SiC]

  On 12/04/2025 at 14:00, Split_Pin said:

Not too bad then!

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Yeah out of all the leaks it's alright. I was worried it was the electronic water pump and the hassle that is involved changing that. 

It got me home at least. Quite a few stops to refill every time the warning light pinged on. 

A headache I could have done without today though. I think it's probably been doing it a week or two and it's now got worse. Just hope none of the cats have got coolant on them and licked it. 

[grogee]

Just been to see the Minecraft Movie with Master Grogee and pals. 7/10 some funny gags, Jack Black plays (with) himself again, but he can do no wrong IMO.

On way back we drove through Osbournby and I saw a red Countach outside a garage/showroom, there was a white one inside I think. Could have been kits, I dunno. 

Drove my step mum's Jazz. A 20-plate,this is her third I think. They are an impressive car although hers is saddled with a CVT gearbox and it feels slow AF. 

I did think Honda had ditched the CVT a long time ago but obviously not. It has a "Sport" mode which just makes more noise and flappy paddles which are similarly ineffective.

Avoid, but I bet the Spanish waiter is good.