Financial advice for everyone who shops .......

I am sharing with you a recent, painful experience – in the hope of lessening your pain.

I was feeling very pleased with myself after a successful shopping trip – I found everything I wanted AND my purchases were on sale – even better!!!!!! I placed my shopping – in a black bags, on the black floor of the Cab – I got out of the Cab in a hurry - shopping remained on the floor – a massive blonde moment.

I tried everything to track the Cab down – to no avail, I even reported the items to lost property and the Police. I was extremely dejected - then a light bulb moment– what was I covered for via the insurance included with my credit card? I quickly logged on to check my policy. My cover included buyers protection - which covered the loss/theft of new purchases. I rang the number immediately, confirmed my cover and completed my claim all within 5 minutes – so quick and simple.

Three days later the money was in my account and I had repurchased the goods – even better the price had been further reduced!!!!!!! Wow - a lucky escape.

Lessons from this adventure:

· You don’t have to know all the detail but have a base understanding of what is included in the add ons to your financial products – you can always research the detail – do you know any of the detail of your cover?

· This product was at no additional cost to me but was part of my credit card – use all the resources available to you

· Don’t panic think laterally and clearly

· Act quickly

· There is no harm in asking the question even if you aren’t covered

· Understand what you are covered for before you take out additional cover – e.g. often credit card insurance includes travel cover where travel is paid using your card