Insurance for full timers? (1 Viewer)

[peterc10]

Don't know where to start really.

Most of us old white middle class fools (BTW what has any of that got to do with anything, other than being ageist, racist and elitist I wonder) do considerably more than 300 to 400 miles per year. I am nowhere near using it as much as I want but I still covered over 6,000 miles in the first year of use. And unlike the "commercial" comparison it includes full breakdown cover in both the UK and Europe. And I took advantage of it, with 6 weeks in Europe (and that is much less than many on this forum do)

The cost of this type of insurance is based upon postcode - if you live in "low risk" areas it is cheaper. Same with cars and household insurances.

And, like many, you wrongly equate most of the risk being about the value of the vehicle. That only plays a part; much of the risk is about the value of the damage that the vehicle can do to property and people, as with cars.

And my insurance policies for my cars are going down year on year not up. Bit difficult for me to be exact because I have changed cars a few times. My wife has had the same car for 8 years and she is now paying less (in cash terms) than when she first got it. Can't be so sure on the motorhome. The first year cost me about £450, and they (Saga) then wanted to increase it to £700. Told them where to stuff it and got competitive quotes ranging from just over £300 to just over £400. All with exactly the same cover, so accepted the lowest.

So maybe us old white middle class fools are not as daft or afraid as you think.

But hey don't worry. When I asked my car's insurance company (Nationwide) if they would insure the motorhome, they said yes, but only as a third party base vehicle, excluding any motorhome specific problems, and none of the cover for breakdown. I am sure big brave people could go for that and save some money.

One final point I pay about £100 more for my motorhome insurance (with full European breakdown cover) than I do for my car (with no breakdown cover at all). Not bad I reckon.

 

[Gandhi]

Nor do I know where to start so lets dissect shall we?

Referring to white middle class fools is a demographic statement not a racist one. Skin colour isn't 'race'. Now if I had said British or Spanish or French or German ......fair enough you could try to steal the moral high ground Pete but sadly off the mark there. I also find your referring to me as being racist pretty offensive Peter so could you please desist? My best man was Asian as was my longest standing business partner.

We are fools because we allow corporations to take money off us so easily.

You may do considerably more than 300 to 400 miles per year - Many, many don't. In fact there are two people near me who have not even taken theirs off the drive this year.

As an ex logistics manager who used to send drivers and materials across the globe believe me you are as wrong with your reference to commercial vehicles not having breakdown insurance as you are with most of the rest of your post Peter.

With your justification of being charged by your post code... could you clarify the relevance of this to the risks associated with using a vehicle away from its registered address? (Didn't think so) So thank you for highlighting just another example of how to raise the premium.

Apparently I'm wrongly assuming the cost of premiums is based solely upon my own vehicle value? Try changing the value of your vehicle by £5000 when asking for a quote and watch what happens. (Sorry to dispel that little myth)

Regarding the difference in what we pay for our MH insurance compared to our car.... firstly I use my car daily and drive in excess of 20000 miles a year so comparatively speaking that 100 quid doesn't look quite so good now does it?

While we're comparing premiums to justify value how about paying 100 quid more for my £20000 MH than I do for my 5 bedroomed 1/3rd million detached house? Back to you Pete to 'justify' that gem. (Anything to do with my postcode? )

Nice try Pete but no cigar!

 

[Coolbeanz]

We are using our sons address,our vehicles & driving licences are registered there.Registered on the electoral roll and post goes there.Lastly we still pay for our motorhome storage for when we have fly away holidays.No lies just the true situation but using the van much more than before selling the house.

Just to try and get the thread back on track our situation is similar to yours except we own a house and our son rents it from us. We have a longtermers policy as opposed to fulltimers policy and it gives us unlimited days abroad and included breakdown and recovery. At just over £400 a year we thought it was a good price and we have already had cause to test the breakdown service when our water pump failed in France. They apologised that it may take them 90 mins to get to us because they would need to find a bigger low loader but they were with us in 40 minutes. The policy is with Safeguard.

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[peterc10]

Now I am not going to descend to personal remarks, but lets see what I can do about dealing with what you have said despite that.

As you yourself say most motorhomes spend more time per year at the home (or storage) post code than anywhere else. And one big risk for motorhomes is theft and vandalism. That is why some of the risk depends upon postcode (I never said all). It also depends upon where you park it and what security precautions you use. That is also why the premium differs depending upon things like the security of the compound (if you store it in one), or whether it is parked on your drive or on the street, or the quality of the alarm. My premium went up by about £7 or so when I corrected an error that I had made about my alarm for example.

Your point about commercial vehicles across the globe is not the same point as you made in your original post, where you refer to "a small commercial delivery vehicle being driven every day across major cities ", which is what I was replying to. I don't know how much the insurance for either of these types of vehicle may be, but I suspect it will be higher for a HGV regularly visiting Europe rather than a smaller local delivery vehicle. But I don't know enough about either of them to be sure.

Of course the value of the vehicle has some bearing on the cost of the insurance, but not the main one. I did almost exactly what you suggested last time with my insurance and (from memory) the effect was about the same as the change in alarm details I refer to above.

The £100 difference between car and motorhome insurance I was referring to was not quite on a like for like basis. Estimated mileage in the car was 6000, whereas the motorhome was 8000. Estimated value of the car was, £3000 whereas the motorhome was £27,500. Of course both of those should make the motorhome much more expensive, on your premise. So the £100 difference is even more impressive.

As for comparing your motorhome insurance with your house insurance that is a false analogy because the risks associated with the insurances are entirely different. To start off with I suspect your house has never done 60mph down the outside lane of the motorway with all of the potential problems that can cause to itself and others. But, of course, the point I made about postcode applies even more so to your house because it can't move. And postcode with houses can also be about flood, storm, and subsidence risks as well.

BTW being British, Spanish, French or German is about nationality not race. "Race" is much more complex. However most people agree that making value judgements about others based upon the colour of their skin is "racism".

 

[Gandhi]

Over the past 20 years I think I've see around 5 homes in 2 different locations near me destroyed by fire. The number of motorhomes destroyed by fire? None. Zero. Not one.

Your reference to houses and 60mph down the motorway then being?

Thank you for correcting someone you have previously inferred to be racist about the nebulous definition of what a racist is. I'm sure your experiences of working with and living with Asians and blacks are far more extensive than mine. (Or are you yet another Internet armchair expert?) If you feel your definition of race and racism is definitively robust why put speech marks around it to convert it to a value judgement?
I shall show your previously patronising -and frankly offensive - inferences to the multitude of Asians I work with together with Satnam my best friend of 30 years and my Asian ex business partner. You really need to work on your bed side manner Peter and do a bit of ground research if you're going to attempt an assault on the moral high ground.
(Cue more ill informed, politically correct, liberal clap trap.)

I shall speak no more on this topic Peter. There are none so blind as those that will not see. Your expertise on most topics appears as boundless as it is patronising . If ever I need to know anything about everything I shall PM you with haste

 

[peterc10]

Hmmmm... this is getting boring.

As for fire, it is but one risk. I have never seen a house near me destroyed by fire, despite living in my own houses for over 40 years. Mind you none of them have been in Glossop (that is a joke, please do NOT take it seriously, and if it offends I apologise). Maybe I need to get out more. I have read of a lot of house fires in the press though. I have passed several vehicle fires on the side of the road as well, including a particularly spectacular lorry fire in Spain this spring. Never seen a motorhome fire either, but I have read about those too occasionally on the forums and in the press . However I am not sure that my personal experiences in any of these provides a sensible method of assessing the risk of fires in homes or vehicles .

My point about the house doing 60mph was to try to explain in my own clumsy way why the risks covered by home insurance and vehicle insurance are so very different.

Sorry about my view on racism. I think "race" (there I go again) is very complex, hence the inverted commas. For example my son-in-law is an American citizen. He has lived nearly all his life in the USA, has American citizenship and passport and considers himself American, so it is easy to say that his nationality is American. But he was born in Trinidad, as were his parents and grandparents. And his great grandparents all came from the Indian sub-continent and were taken there when young to work in Trinidad as indentured labourers on the sugar plantations. So what "race" is he? I don't know, and he (and I) doesn't care. But what I do know is that he (and my daughter and I) would be upset if people made value judgements about him based upon the colour of his skin, as, I suspect, would be the friend and work colleague you refer to. He, and my daughter and I, would call those that make those value judgements "racist", for want of a better term. I am sorry if you think all of that makes me an "ill informed, politically correct, liberal", but, if that is your definition of those terms then I plead "guilty as charged".

This has strayed far from the original topic, so I will say no more.

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[Nigel&Debbie]

where's the fun gone here - its getting too heavy.

Lets all take a chill pill or two.

 

[mojo]

Just as well this difference of opinion is online and not in the local pub.Thanks Coolbeanz I will keep Safeguard in mind when the time arrives.