Damage to flooring after scraping back of van

[Gerryp]

Hi everyone,

Had a bit of a nightmare today and when driving our 7m swift Sundance 600L down a hill and up another hill the back right of the van hit the road hard and the stabiliser pushed up through the bottom of the floor slightly (so the wood flooring has split a bit and you can see a bit of light thru but it feels stable and not likely to collapse.

My question is who would you go to fix this kind of problem (we are based in the South east but currently traveling in Spain). Would it be a carpenter? Sounds like beyond usual motorhome service people....

Also weighing up whether to do it as an insurance claim when I get a quote.

Thanks all!

 

[The Wino]

Having posted this many times, post break in and two vehicles stollen my MoHo insurance went from £450 to over £3000. Each of my vehicles insurance went through the roof it is a no fault claim, unless an insurance company can reclaim what they pay out they class it as your fault. It truly is a rubbish way to treat people. I suspect the CEO of these companies have very nice salaries holidays in the cayman isle ( or similar) and thier children all have private educations and nannies. In the mean time the poor motoring public are having to pay inflated costs when a no fault claim is made poor insurance companies !

I think a lot of people think it's a no fault bonus it's not it's a no claims bonus. If another party pay there isn't a claim on your policy if not there is. It's like health and travel insurance they quote based on what they see as the risk not because it's your fault that you have poor health. I'm pretty sure the CEO,s do very nicely can you think of any industry with big businesses where the CEO doesn't?

 

[Coolcats]

I think a lot of people think it's a no fault bonus it's not it's a no claims bonus. If another party pay there isn't a claim on your policy if not there is. It's like health and travel insurance they quote based on what they see as the risk not because it's your fault that you have poor health. I'm pretty sure the CEO,s do very nicely can you think of any industry with big businesses where the CEO doesn't?

It is not the claim, it is about the insurance company not being able to recover losses had they been able to the flag would have been from Yes changed to No and my premium not affected so the victim of a crime (innocent may I add) pays the insurance company more even though we have already paid the premium for cover. its a warped financial system stacked against ordinary every day folk

Edited to say that one vehicle payout was £8K so just the MoHo increase of £2500 X 5 years if I was mug enough to pay it would be £12,500 extra above the previous premium similar was applied to all vehicles its the insurance industry trying to claw as much back of their loss (dont forget we already pay cover for theft)

Last edit I feel that the insurance industry is a bit like the wild west......

 

[Coolcats]

Hi everyone,

Had a bit of a nightmare today and when driving our 7m swift Sundance 600L down a hill and up another hill the back right of the van hit the road hard and the stabiliser pushed up through the bottom of the floor slightly (so the wood flooring has split a bit and you can see a bit of light thru but it feels stable and not likely to collapse.

My question is who would you go to fix this kind of problem (we are based in the South east but currently traveling in Spain). Would it be a carpenter? Sounds like beyond usual motorhome service people....

Also weighing up whether to do it as an insurance claim when I get a quote.

Thanks all!

personally if you can avoid a claim do

 

[TheBig1]

Any carpenter will fix it way better than a caravan/motorhome repairer. Unbolt useless stabilisers, repair the wood and overplate with aluminium plate to prevent the inevitable rot setting in

I would also be looking at why the back end bottomed out. Probably needs an upgrade to the rear suspension, which again is very common

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[Conal]

My wife was hit by a white van man who had parked on the pavement and drove off into her as she passed. She was deemed to be faultless but her insurance company at the time (Tesco) decided that, because she had been hit once, she was now an accident magnet, and increased the cost of insurance by £200 (nearly doubling it) at the next renewal. I spoke to the agent who spouted a load of rubbish, presumably from a dialogue screen. I indicated my displeasure and cancelled our house insurance at the next renewal date.

 

[headlight]

My best friend of 40 years is a loss assessor for a big insurance company and has been for years.
He has always told me that if there is anyway you can pay for the damage yourself do so and don't involve the insurance as you will end up paying more out in increased premiums than the insurance payout.
He said they will always more than cover their payout.

 

[Markman]

My best friend of 40 years is a loss assessor for a big insurance company and has been for years.
He has always told me that if there is anyway you can pay for the damage yourself do so and don't involve the insurance as you will end up paying more out in increased premiums than the insurance payout.
He said they will always more than cover their payout.

I agree, but some help please . . . what should one set the excess to be? Compulsory is usually £250, then voluntary on top? For my car I just changed companies (it went from £360 to £495) and then played with their on-line quoting system. Increasing my voluntary excess to £250 (so total excess £500) reduced the annual insurance by £50. But, based on your comment, I shouldn't be claiming unless its a write-off, so I won't be making a claim anyhow. What does your best friend say?

 

[Joc]

The whole insurance industry needs close inspection. I was told by an insurance company that because I had had an accident I was more likely to have another so my risk to them is greater. That makes zero sense as you are more likely to be more careful, only an insurance company could come up with an excuse like that, but who are we to argue as they have you by the gentleman’s bits. It’s the only industry where you get nothing in return for paying a lot in to it and if you do get a payout you are forced to pay more for future cover.

I think you`ll find the terminology used by the insurance companies to explain the higher premium on renewal is "If you have made a claim you are, statistically, more likely to make another". Unfortunately, this catch all phrase also applies to "no fault" claims, as I`m sure others on here can attest to.

 

[The Wino]

I think you`ll find the terminology used by the insurance companies to explain the higher premium on renewal is "If you have made a claim you are, statistically, more likely to make another". Unfortunately, this catch all phrase also applies to "no fault" claims, as I`m sure others on here can attest to.

I suspect it's probably true. How many of us have driven behind the bloke doing 30 in a 60 limit thinking that he's probably not going to have an accident where he's at fault but will cause plenty!

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[Geistguy]

Back to the original post, could you carefully apply downward pressure from inside to close the gap. If successful you could also apply a good quality waterproof tape - Duck or Gaffer type. It looks like the damage is not visible so appearance may not matter too much.