Just Sealed the Deal on our First MH

[Lenny HB]

Guys I have an insurance dilemma...need advice. Comfort insurance have come out tops thus far for coverage & premium, Safegaurd offer via dealers, is 12 months cover for the price of 10, but still over a 100 quid more than comfort....now the problem...dealer wants to do handover on 1st September! nice I thought, but insurance companies will not give me sufficient grace period for getting the Strikeback alarm, or in Comforts case, a cat 5 or 6 tracker fitted.
The earliest I can get Vanbitz to fit these items is 3rd October....what would you do?, other than delay the handover?
Many Thanks for any ideas, this van is so close yet so far it seems

We had to have an alarm fitted before we could get theft cover didn't need a tracker as we imported the Hymer came in just under the 75k limit if we had bought in the UK it would have been well over.
Anyway I slept in the van on the drive and made sure at least one of us was in the house until the alarm was fitted.

 

[TinaLes]

Thanks to all for support, Yes we are hoping that Vanbitz may have a cancellation date and fit us in before 3rd of October, however they are closed at present as they take their summer leave, so the opportunity window for a cancellation date is somewhat reduced. Fingers crossed, if we can pick the van up say mid to late September, then Vanbitz may allow us to drop it off with them, so that its there ready for when an opportunity arises, which I hope they will agree to. Will have to wait until they reopen.

Yes the price point for needing all these security items fitted like active Cat 5/6 Trackers seems to be 75K. Comfort told me the actual price we pay is irrelevant, as they look up the book price or full RRP, as this is the price it would cost them to replace with the new for old cover....well you live & learn everyday eh?

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes the price point for needing all these security items fitted like active Cat 5/6 Trackers seems to be 75K. Comfort told me the actual price we pay is irrelevant, as they look up the book price or full RRP, as this is the price it would cost them to replace with the new for old cover....well you live & learn everyday eh?

Comfort just asked me what I wanted to insure it for the book price was €104k (UK list was £90k).
I insured for £74½k as that covered what it cost me plus £2½k's worth of bits I fitted.
Did it like that with the last two vans as well.

 

[TinaLes]

Comfort just asked me what I wanted to insure it for the book price was €104k (UK list was £90k).
I insured for £74½k as that covered what it cost me plus £2½k's worth of bits I fitted.
Did it like that with the last two vans as well.

Hi Lenny, that was some discount off the full asking price of 90K! Wow!
My question is, was it a brand new van at time of import? and did you get the new for old coverage in the first two years?
I ask as it was the new for old coverage that made Comfort take the book price of 75K, they even looked it up and said that would be the price they would have to payout if the van was written off or stolen.
I felt I couldn't argue with that, as indeed that is the base price to purchase here in the UK.

 

[MichaelT]

I am still between a rock & hard place with insurance companies, NFU passed me onto Bewise at a humongous premium and no grace period, but I cannot get around having to have an alarm & tracker fitted with a sufficiently long enough "Grace Period", cant say I blame em
So I have had to defer the handover until mid Sept, and go with Comfort as they will give me 14 days to get the stuff fitted at Vanbitz on the 3rd October...hey ho! as they say.

Happy Travels everyone, send me a card eh?

Safeguard gave us 30 days grace, I think we could have got more if we pushed.

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[TinaLes]

OK just come off the phone with Comfort, they gave me a price for insurance of £356.58 fully comp, 9 months EU usage. I just phoned them back to say yes please, they found the premium on the system and said that it represented a retail price of £74,200 which was incorrect as the Price for them to replace would be £75200, regardless of how much I actually pay this is the amount I would have to insure it for, if I wanted new for old in the first 3 years or max mileage of 15,000 which ever comes first.

So to summarise the van is insured for £75,200 as they wont insure at a lesser amount, and the recalculated premium with Comfort via Aviva is £431.83 with a cat 1 alarm & a tracker (fitted within 14 days of purchase). Trust me I tried so hard to get a longer grace period of 14 days, but was told by safegaurd, yes, you can but the vehicle wont be insured for theft until the tracker is fitted, can you believe that?, I couldnt!!
So went with Comfort, fed up trying everywhere else, last of many to try was AIB, they said grab the comfort quote with both hands we cant get near that. Adrian Flux, NFU, CMC, caravan Guard, etc etc couldn't get near Comforts price either
So all insured now, ready for collection on the 26th sept, booked into vanbitz 3rd Oct, glad all that boring stuff is over, Peed me right off doing it, listening to "Bear wif me", "No Worries", "put you on hold a minute""Before we continue, I have to make you aware of"......AAAAAAAHHHHH, Let Me off!

 

[TinaLes]

Update:
Joined Carthago Owners Club as suggested.
Tina bought me a private plate, MH67FUN ! give us a toot when you see us

Next Problem is we are not into social media i.e Facebook especially, the Carthago Owners club suggest that members chat to each other a lot on a "Closed Forum" what are we missing out on? Can we join without the entire world contacting us because our names or e mail addresses are on their lists?

 

[Silver-Fox]

Good Idea Silver-Fox I have a torque wrench left over from our last caravan, just need to see what size socket is required for the Fiat Wheel nuts, whats the breaker bar used for, or is that a dim question?
Thanks for your advice
Best wishes
Tina & Les

The breaker bar is for undoing the wheel nuts/studs.
They either rust in place or react with the alloy wheels and can be a pain to undo.
Just gives you more torque effect for undoing and not having to use the torque wrench and stressing it.

 

[Silver-Fox]

Update:
Joined Carthago Owners Club as suggested.
Tina bought me a private plate, MH67FUN ! give us a toot when you see us

Next Problem is we are not into social media i.e Facebook especially, the Carthago Owners club suggest that members chat to each other a lot on a "Closed Forum" what are we missing out on? Can we join without the entire world contacting us because our names or e mail addresses are on their lists?

With face ache you can restrict who has access to your profile etc

I joined the Rapido Owners on there sometimes you get specific info if you have an issue to sort out.
Also you get a warm fuzzy feeling being part of an "exclusive " group

 

[TinaLes]

Thanks Silver Fox...and there was me thinking that a breaker bar, was the same as a crowbar! Then my curiosity instinct went way off course, and I assumed that being a crowbar, it was used for lifting & replacing man hole covers whilst wilding!.
Silly me eh

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[Greenway]

With face ache you can restrict who has access to your profile etc

I joined the Rapido Owners on there sometimes you get specific info if you have an issue to sort out.
Also you get a warm fuzzy feeling being part of an "exclusive " group

Have you got your windscreen sticker

 

[TinaLes]

Havent got any stickers yet, got to order some from Jim.

I reluctantly registered on Facebook last night, sure enough loads of people I know came up in right hand column, most are ex clients that I dont want or need to be checking on what I am up to these days, so I blocked them, hope it works or I will de-register. Didn't notice any "Face Ache" facility or button help & advice needed on that one.

 

[zac]

I am still between a rock & hard place with insurance companies, NFU passed me onto Bewise at a humongous premium and no grace period, but I cannot get around having to have an alarm & tracker fitted with a sufficiently long enough "Grace Period", cant say I blame em
So I have had to defer the handover until mid Sept, and go with Comfort as they will give me 14 days to get the stuff fitted at Vanbitz on the 3rd October...hey ho! as they say.

Happy Travels everyone, send me a card eh?

That's strange as they said i am ok just not for theft until cat 5 tracker fitted, i couldnt get mine done for 4 weeks after handover, also they told me the cat 5 tracker was a requirement as van was over 100k. i think they are twisting these figures to suit

 

[Clarky]

Havent got any stickers yet, got to order some from Jim.

I reluctantly registered on Facebook last night, sure enough loads of people I know came up in right hand column, most are ex clients that I dont want or need to be checking on what I am up to these days, so I blocked them, hope it works or I will de-register. Didn't notice any "Face Ache" facility or button help & advice needed on that one.

Carthage Owners Facebook group is closed and can only be seen by othe members.
No riff-raff allowed, ..................apart from me of course.
You don't need to accept any other 'friends'.

Richard.

 

[TinaLes]

Thanks Richard, yes we are on Facebook now, still all new to us, scared of pressing wrong buttons!, I think I have "befriended you" hope it didn't hurt too much!
We will keep trying to get our heads around it, not much in the way of events for next year as far as I can see, maybe needs a man of your travelling experience, or similar memebers to get some more "gatherings" or fixtures put on the events calendar for 2018?, is that how it works on The Carthago Owners site?, members suggesting meets etc?

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[TinaLes]

Well we had our handover at Chelstons all went well, left it with them for a week until we could get it over to Eddie at Vanbitz as they are very local to our dealers. We had the Growler Alarm, Track Star Tracker & dual lens reversing cameras with large 7" monitor which is great for seeing who is behind you when driving. I drove the van home solo as OH Tina was in our car behind, I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet the van is overall, the Fiat Ducato 150 is very capable, I tried it out on all manner of roads & motorways, it kept up with the traffic, was better than expected on long steep hills, and will cruise happily at 70MPH even 80MPH, if I wanted, however eased off to 65 as its new and didn't want it to drink too much fuel.
Still have all the manuals to read, but I think I have got the hang of the important things. There are so many light switches!, some are two way switched also. Now I need to fit a radio head unit, and a second leisure battery. The lever under the floor to open the Grey waste tank is very stiff and I didnt see the water gush out, just a trickle so I may need to adjust it, also get a longer drain hose as the sample bit Carthago give you is only about 700mm long!
All in all we are very pleased, chuffed in fact, such a lovely looking van, and with the MH67FUN no plate our neighbours on the Cornish Farm Camp Site came over to admire it and say hello as fellow "Funsters" We wish we had done this years ago, cant wait to get out for our first long weekend.

 

[Clarky]

Wouldn't worry too much about the longer drain hose. In most cases you can just drive over the drain and then open the valve. If there is no drive over grid or drain then a collapsible bucket works well.
Once the waste tank is fairly full it should gush out but will reduce to a trickle once the level gets low and the pressure drops.

Enjoy your new van.

Richard.

 

[TinaLes]

Many Thanks Richard, we just missed booking on the Carthago Fireworks Night at Camper UK, it was fully booked in 4/5 days!, so lesson learned gotta get in quick on these meets to get a place! Not sure about the Lake Bled site in Slovenia next year, the site reviews are not very promising, and no visit to the Carthago factory either, as its too far. Shame really, need more fixtures throughout the year. Now with so many new members maybe thats a possibility?