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But that wasn’t the weirdest thing I did not know I was insured for. Completely without realising it, I have somehow managed to insure the contents of my handbag with a company called CPP since 2004. In that time I have actually had my bag stolen. But I had no idea I was insured for it so it did me no good. As lightning had already struck, I decided to ring them and try to cancel.
‘But what if you were abroad and you lost your bag?’ the customer service advisor said. ‘We would cancel your cards, give you emergency cash, replace your mobile phone and change your locks and keys.’
‘That’s all very well,’ I said. ‘But such an incident has already happened. I cancelled my cards, changed my locks and replaced my phone myself.’
‘But what about your passport? What would you do if you were in a foreign country and…’
‘I would go to the British embassy.’
‘But how would you know where it was? You haven’t got a mobile phone remember?’
‘I would ask at the hotel.’
‘But what if you couldn’t get back to the hotel? You’ve got no money. Your bag’s been stolen…’
‘So I’ve got no phone?’
‘No.’
‘So how am I going to phone you?’
‘Well, we’ve sent you a special card with our number on. You put that in a safe place.’
‘Like my handbag?’
‘No, not your handbag. You keep it separate. In the safe in the hotel, for example.’
‘But I can’t get back to the hotel, remember? I’m stranded.’
For once I felt pleased to cancel a policy. Of course it will be tough when I go on holiday in a few months’ time. I will have to dodge bag-snatchers every step of the way. And for £35 a year it won’t even be particularly worth it. As I say, you can never get it right.
Melissa Kite is deputy political editor of the Sunday Telegraph.
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