Mildly interesting Insurance facts (1 Viewer)

Vanman

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Having just bought the insurance for my first ever MH I thought I’d share here a few things that surprised me through the process. My findings may not be typical of what others find – but it’s how it worked out for me!

OK, when I first decided to buy a new PVC MH I first went onto a comparison web site to get a ‘ball park figure’ in case I really couldn’t afford the insurance at all! Thankfully there were several firms that were suggesting that £320 to £340 was the ‘going rate’ so I went ahead and ordered my van.

Buying the van from new, to my detailed specification entailed a 4 month wait and one of the things that I did to pass the time was to ‘mess around’ on two comparison sites, adding and removing options. The main ones were –

  • Mythical MH no claims (4 years) – None held
  • Imaginary MH club memberships – None held at the time
  • Thatcham alarms and immobilisers – Factory fitted immobiliser only
  • Changing Mileage to 2000 or 4000 – 6,000 required
  • Excess of £400 or £800 - £200 used
  • Removing spouse from policy – 1 named driver
  • Keeping vehicle on public road – instead of private driveway

So – I hope you’ve taken a minute or two to predict how each of these affected my quotes. The correct answer was – Not at all really. Regardless of which permutation I entered the lowest quote was still in the £320 to £340 bracket! Now I am not saying that some of the quotes for some of the companies didn’t swap in order – I didn’t form a league table, just trying to make it go up or down and over-all it didn’t! Not even for leaving it out on the road! Just goes to show that 90+% of it is age, postcode and claims history, most of the rest is just window dressing.

OK – so much for comparison web sites, when I got a date of delivery for my Van I started ringing round in earnest with a view to buying. By now I had joined both well known clubs with sites partly to maybe benefit from their Insurance. What a waste that was. Here is a summary of some the quotes that I received –

Saga – Well over £500 (didn’t bother writing it down)

C&CC – Over £500

C&MH - £420

Safeguard – No bid

Scentic - £320 (reduced to £294 to beat Comfort)

Comfort - £303 (reduced to £284 on telephone, not sure why …)

So, it looks like 57 is not old enough for SAGA. C&CC said they could quote me lower if I had a different postcode (?) or if I took cover without Theft until I had an alarm fitted! Safeguard would not quote without a Thatcham approved device. C&MH quoted and I said “that’s not very competitive” to which they replied, “Yes I know” (?). Scenic were very helpful and friendly and I would have gone with them if Comforts quote hadn’t been better (free Euro cover, free Legal, better small print). It seems that Thatcham is more a requirement or not with companies rather than a great price reduction.

Comfort had been consistently cheaper on the comparison websites. So from a beginners point of view there really wasn't a lot of point of mucking around with the 'big guns', comparison web sites were the way to go and these are the two I used most.

https://www.gocompare-caravan.com/ProductSelect.aspx?r=false&brand=Site
https://www.confused.com/caravan-insurance/motorhome
 

mikebeaches

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Interesting - we are now on our seventh year of motorhome ownership and have used Comfort throughout. I believe they manage to take a decent chunk - no idea exactly what proportion - of the motorhome insurance market.
 
Apr 27, 2008
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We have also been with Comfort for many years. I do check at each renewal that they aren't ripping me off but they don't seem to do so.

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Jun 17, 2012
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Just had renewal from Comfort. Same as last year except extra £1.68 because the Insurance Premium Tax has gone up.
So, £258.74 plus £60.50 for the top breakdown cover on a 4200kg MH
Total of £319.24.
 
May 8, 2016
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The value is in the wording and application of the policies. In which respect, Comfort were not most expensive in my own enquiries (similar to those in the OP) but one of the least acceptable policy terms (e.gh. offering 365 day/year EU cover, but you could only leave your MH - even in a locked compound - for up to 36 hours).

Some would say that Comfort were misleading, when I get round to it, I will be doing something about that

AIB came out one of the best
 

StanandShirley

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Just did the quotes round yesterday and thank goodness they were free calls. Sticking with Comfort again

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Vanman

Vanman

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The value is in the wording and application of the policies. In which respect, Comfort were not most expensive in my own enquiries (similar to those in the OP) but one of the least acceptable policy terms (e.gh. offering 365 day/year EU cover, but you could only leave your MH - even in a locked compound - for up to 36 hours).

Some would say that Comfort were misleading, when I get round to it, I will be doing something about that

AIB came out one of the best

Not sure that mis-leading is entirely fair ... they went to great lengths to point that clause out to me. I quizzed them on it and they say they are quoting for it being stored where you say it's to be stored, if you then go ahead and leave it unattended at any third location then they want to know about it as it might affect the premium (over 48 hours). It doesn't affect anything if you're with it - obviously ;)
 
May 8, 2016
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In effect, you are confirming the offence of their misleading advertising of their policy inasmuch that they advertise 365 days/year annual EU cover, and you had to quiz them on the specific limitations of their policy to get to the full picture. And, as you discovered, that cover falls short of what they say in their advertising. By way of example, you are abroad, you become ill and are admitted to hospital for 3 days - your cover ceases. Same if you are recalled to the UK for the death of a relative, or you decide you are going to spend a weekend in an hotel as a chance to enjoy a full size bed, shower, etc.

There are other factors, too, including the application of their refund policy, which I cannot go into discussion about as I will be taking them to court when (as I said) I have time on my hands. I have a lot of dealings with insurers, and I have won cases against less deceptive practices than this
 
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Vanman

Vanman

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Sorry, I think we're talking at cross purposes really. My query was nothing to do with either their advertising or their EU cover, which I probably won't use this year. The only 'point' I was making was that they told me on the phone that I had to tell them if the van was being left unattended for 48 hours anywhere other than the insured location. I only queried it because I wondered why, and they told me - no problem.

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May 8, 2016
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Understood. Perhaps they have taken on board complaints made about their misleading advertising, and are making sure they don't mislead clients when they speak to them.

Very commendable, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place
 

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