Hit and run!

A shocking surprise greeted us as we prepared to drive to the hardware store this weekend. As we approached our car, parked as always in the street, we discovered someone had hit it. Worse still, they'd driven off without leaving a note. The right rear side bumper and boot lid are completely mangled. The cat had been hit so hard, its rear wheels were shunted a foot away from the curb, leaving it parked at an awkward angle.

Garry was most upset. After such a long and demoralising winter, this latest incident simply seems to add to our litany of winter woes. I was a little more sanguine. Sadly, it's not the first time I've had someone hit my car and disappear without a trace. We've submitted an insurance claim and take the car in for repair on Thursday. We're now a small part of the £54 million worth of insurance claims lodged nationwide every day.

In an ironic twist, we renewed our insurance a month ago, changing insurers in the process. The new insurer gave a better deal with a lower excess. Garry also discovered that we'd been charged insurance rates for a completely different (and more expensive) car form factor (a convertible rather than a sedan) for the last four years. It's our gas bill debacle all over again. I'm staggered that yet another UK company has been ripping us off for years. I swear I've never experienced such fundamental billing errors in Australia.