Motorhome Insurance

Not seen anyone mention their name
"Caravan Guard"#
been with them 12 years (not because I don't shop around I do)
But because they are certainly switched on to what makes up a motorhome
Satellite, Gas tank corner steadies Etc Etc, to make the motorhome suit you
they ask all these questions and offer cover accordingly
not planning an European trip they remove that cover reducing the price
use green flag recovery any size van,
don't want legal cover you can take out of policy
You end up with a policy tailored to your needs and your van,
In my experience there are slightly cheaper quotes, but the brokers
don't always have the necessary knowledge to understand the
variations in motorhome accessories fitted,
and do not ask
the length of your van for the recovery to the UK,
Hope this helps some M H F members
 
mikebeaches said:
Why will almost all British motor insurers not provide cover for vans securely stored abroad?

I spent more than 2 days full-time on the phone ringing dozens of insurers and brokers, including the two big clubs (CMHC and C&CC), but every single one said NO.

One of the clubs said 'we'll do it for a caravan, but not a motorhome'??

Eventually found a broker that said they thought they knew of an underwriter that would assist, and I finally got sorted.

Many motorhomers love the idea of spending time during winter in Spain, Portugal or somwhere warmer than Blighty. But for various reasons can't afford months away at a time to make the trip. Fly camping is the answer - but for most not possible because of a lack of MH insurance!
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Echo this Jim. No sure how many outside Uk members you have . We could not find any insurer in UK to even quote . The van is French registered and stored professionally , currently we use a French Company
and the cover provided is probably fine , but ,we can't read it so its all trust, then you try dealing with them !!
 
A few years ago I had a van stolen, I was with Saga who paid up promptly. I decided it should have a tracker professionally fitted and told Saga, expecting a reduction. Their response was to put up my premium as I had modified the vehicle.
 
We don't own a home..we live with our daughter...she owns the house...because of this some insurers insist we can only have a fulltimers policy....I cant remember any restrictions on insurance being placed on our kids when they lived with us when insuring their first vehicles... why are we penalised for not owning a house..

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Jim said:
I want to write an article about motorhome insurance. Do you have any hints or tips that should be within?

I'm also going to be speaking to the bosses a couple of companies, what questions should I be asking on your behalf. Cheers (y)
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Hi, Jim.
With regard to Toads, this may be a point of interest to some.

When shopping around a few years ago, the only insurer that I could find which would insure my car fully comp at all times - i.e. even while it is being towed (either on a trailer or by A-frame) - was Comfort. The proviso is that you have to insure both your Motorhome and Car with Comfort to get this benefit.

I’m also with the C&CC and, last time I checked, their insurance brokers did not provide this. You might think that, specialising in the Leisure Industry business, it was something that they would have covered, but nooooo. :doh:
 
Just a thought. If I believe my motorhome is valued at £40,000.00, to include all the extras I have put on it, then I get insurance to cover that value, how is it then that, if and when, it is time to pay out they will only give you the list price or less for your motorhome. It has never happened to us, but have heard this elsewhere. Why do they take your premium to cover a certain amount but pay you less. I would like to pay a premium for the amount for which I am covered and would be paid out if it came to that. Am I talking out of my ass on this???
 
nicholsong said:
Jim

Are you talking to bosses of Underwriting companies or Brokers?

The brokers who have 'underwriting authority'(But they are still not the Underwriters paying the claims) are very limited in the terms of the policy that they can vary, only the premium they can quote and their commission they can discount. "He who pays the piper calls the tune"

Many customers do not understand the difference. They should read the small print at the bottom of the Certificate of Insurance and the Policy which must state who are the Underwriters, regardless of the notepaper heading.

I was dealing with insurance claims fo many years - large aircraft, not MHs but understand the differences.

Geoff
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Can you go direct to underwriters or do you have to use a broker?
 
Hi The Sundowners,
Exactly my question originally to "Caravan Guard"
But they went through the full details of the Vehicle AND the fitted
accessories, the questions THEY asked included the length of the van,
to ensure their green flag recovery could repatriate the van to the UK
(they even cater for American RV's if I remember correctly,
I have the value of my van (not fitted accessories ) checked each year
as that is what any insurance company will pay out (the current market value)
there is no point valuing your van as £60K if in fact its value is £40K
some companies will happily accept your payment for a £60K value,
but would only ever pay you the market value in the example £40K
It is up to us to quote a reasonable value,
and not pay a premium for a settlement we would never achieve,
the value of fitted accessories attract an extra payment
as they genuinely increase the value of your van,
in your example van current value £40K extras fitted £3K
correct valuation cover required is for £43K
Talk it through with a motorhome savvy broker
if they are vague, look further afield,
It is a fact of life that if we have to make a claim,
then the best premium you could find,
is not as critical as insuring with an efficient company
I form the picture that some would make good limbo dancers
the way they can creep and squirm under a closed door to avoid full settlements
 
Garry Walden said:
We don't own a home..we live with our daughter...she owns the house...because of this some insurers insist we can only have a fulltimers policy....I cant remember any restrictions on insurance being placed on our kids when they lived with us when insuring their first vehicles... why are we penalised for not owning a house..
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If that’s you registered address and you live there I don’t see how you are fultimers.

Maybe you need to pay a small amount in rent if you don’t already.

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mikebeaches said:
Why will almost all British motor insurers not provide cover for vans securely stored abroad?

Eventually found a broker that said they thought they knew of an underwriter that would assist, and I finally got sorted.
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Mike would you be happy to give out the brokers contact details. Thanks in advance
 
JP1889 said:
Mike would you be happy to give out the brokers contact details. Thanks in advance
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Yes, happy to! :giggle:

The broker was Advance Insurance - I believe they recently moved premises within Wiltshire. According to the website, they are registered at: 8 Avon Reach, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1EE.

But I believe I dealt with the Westbury branch: 01373 822369?


And Daniel Chadwick ( Daniel.chadwick@advanceinsurance.co.uk ) did my renewal this year.

The underwriter is Ageas: https://www.ageas.co.uk/ (used to be known as Fortis)

They are UK-based, with their HQ in Eastleigh:

Ageas House,
Hampshire Corporate Park,
Templars Way,
Eastleigh,
Hampshire,
SO53 3YA

However - as I understand - the parent company is Belgian; in fact Belgium's largest motor insurer.

The standard policy I was offered, to include storage for part of the year at Christ Parking, was only for 180 days of continental travel. But they were happy to add extra blocks of 30 days in return for a modest increase in premium - hence this year I have 240 days for overseas ie 8 months.

Oh and just to mention, the policy I have has a maximum vehicle value of £40k, which is just adequate for me, but I've heard of folk with higher value vans being unable to get cover.

Good luck if you choose to follow this up. (y)
 
canopus said:
Ask potential insurance company providers what their take is on ‘green cards’. Why, for example, have they cried off issuing green cards for countries such as Morocco?
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Quite agree, my insurance company who are well known to the motorhome fraternity quoted me £271 in addition to my premium just for the green card for Morocco for 9 weeks where do they get that from. I was not at all Comfort-able with that so I decided not to go over again, especially as in the past they used to charge me £17 for 10 weeks green card for Morocco. But as you say the majority of insurers won't touch it.
 
Sundowners said:
Just a thought. If I believe my motorhome is valued at £40,000.00, to include all the extras I have put on it, then I get insurance to cover that value, how is it then that, if and when, it is time to pay out they will only give you the list price or less for your motorhome. It has never happened to us, but have heard this elsewhere. Why do they take your premium to cover a certain amount but pay you less. I would like to pay a premium for the amount for which I am covered and would be paid out if it came to that. Am I talking out of my ass on this???
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Because people less honest than you could buy a motorhome for £20k, insure it for £40k than "accidentally" write it off. They would then collect the 40K and make a 20k profit.

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Ask why they won't insure a non resident even if they have a British passport and British Drivers License and have driven a motorhome for 12 years without incident
 
mikebeaches said:
Yes, happy to! :giggle:

The broker was Advance Insurance - I believe they recently moved premises within Wiltshire. According to the website, they are registered at: 8 Avon Reach, Chippenham, Wiltshire SN15 1EE.

But I believe I dealt with the Westbury branch: 01373 822369?


And Daniel Chadwick ( Daniel.chadwick@advanceinsurance.co.uk ) did my renewal this year.

The underwriter is Ageas: https://www.ageas.co.uk/ (used to be known as Fortis)

They are UK-based, with their HQ in Eastleigh:

Ageas House,
Hampshire Corporate Park,
Templars Way,
Eastleigh,
Hampshire,
SO53 3YA

However - as I understand - the parent company is Belgian; in fact Belgium's largest motor insurer.

The standard policy I was offered, to include storage for part of the year at Christ Parking, was only for 180 days of continental travel. But they were happy to add extra blocks of 30 days in return for a modest increase in premium - hence this year I have 240 days for overseas ie 8 months.

Oh and just to mention, the policy I have has a maximum vehicle value of £40k, which is just adequate for me, but I've heard of folk with higher value vans being unable to get cover.

Good luck if you choose to follow this up. (y)
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I use Advance and have been very happy with them. Do check the wording of the policy carefully. They initially included breakdown recovery etc as part of the deal. However when I checked the detail, the recovery only covered up to a certain lengh of which i was over, despite telling them the lengh. They hadn't realised!!! So I had that taken out and got breakdown recovery elsewhere.
 
Timcowen said:
I use Advance and have been very happy with them. Do check the wording of the policy carefully. They initially included breakdown recovery etc as part of the deal. However when I checked the detail, the recovery only covered up to a certain lengh of which i was over, despite telling them the lengh. They hadn't realised!!! So I had that taken out and got breakdown recovery elsewhere.
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Good point. I currently get breakdown cover from RAC via Camping & Caravan Club Arrival scheme. I think they offer up to 350 days abroad, whereas the cover from Advance wasn't a long enough duration for me and no option to extend it.

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Just renewing my insurance with LV, they along with many others will only repatriate your mh up to a value of £5000!
 
Theonlysue said:
Shop around
Different companies will have different claims records so difficult to say which is right for an individual.
Ensure cover is exactly what you need.
It's not good paying a premium with £500 windscreen cover when it will cost £2000 to replace.
If you fulltime, there aren't many true fulltiming policies available, so customers dont always tell the truth, which may cause a lack of pay out if you have a big claim.
Ensure breakdown cover is suitable as well. Can be difficult to get for an older motorhome.

Before buying a really expensive motorhome in excess of £100,000 ensure you can get cover. I do wonder who insures the £200,000 plus motorhomes.
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I think you have little off pist, Jim is asking for questions to through at Insurance company bosses.
 
My questions are
“ what is an idea customer for an insurance policy? Is 2 drivers , 2 vehicles in the household, limited MH mileage etc ”
“what keeps the premium low “
“Can they have a simple one page summary of what’s covered and what’s not without all the caveats”

thanks
 
after reading through these posts, you have a lot of work to do jim, just to collate them!

reading through them, i get the impression that people dont necessarily want the cheapest insurance, they want one that can they can trust to deliver when needed. That means they need to know what is and isnt covered (though by default if it is covered, it is and anything else isnt !!) but we all know that needs differ from one person to another, HOWEVER i am sure there is a 'common minimum policy'. perhaps the onus is on us as users of insurance to tell the insurance company what we want or dont want?

I am currently looking for insurance to start in 8 days time, Saga is winning because of the free green card but one strange thing is when i asked if Morocco was included i was told yes, but the underwriters wont put it in writing as part of the 'terms' ???

if there is a shopping list, then i would like to see two free amendments each year - not the amendments themselves, but the admin fees they charge for amendments
 
Ask what companies will cover you to do a personal import using just the VIN number. I have asked my current insurer but they won’t cover me until it is registered in Britain.

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Jim, can you ask why the vehicle value impacts on the cover value of your Personal Effects (PE). Example Veh Value less than £15k PE £2,500, more than £15k PE £5000, make no common sense to me your PE have no impact on the veh value.
 
richard8 said:
Just renewing my insurance with LV, they along with many others will only repatriate your mh up to a value of £5000!
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After seeing this I cslled LV and they said (and showed in writing ) that they repatriate the vehicle as long as the cost of repatriation is less than the value of the vehicle )
I’m not saying you are wrong but it’s worrying that we all get different answers
 
Dennisad said:
Jim, can you ask why the vehicle value impacts on the cover value of your Personal Effects (PE). Example Veh Value less than £15k PE £2,500, more than £15k PE £5000, make no common sense to me your PE have no impact on the veh value.
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Is their thought process, ‘dearer van more expensive toys’.
 
It must be because I can't think of any other reason!!!!
 
JoCo said:
The van is French registered and stored professionally , currently we use a French Company
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& it has to be insured in the country in which it is registered. Unless a UK company had a French arm it cannot be done.
Sundowners said:
Am I talking out of my ass on this???
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Agreed value insurance. Quite common on the VW forums .

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