I feel short-changed............

Mick Kennedy

Mick Kennedy

Joined
Mar 25, 2020
Posts
174
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69,618
MH
SWIFT KONTIKI 649
Exp
SINCE 1980
Just had my e-bike stolen from outside my motorhome, it was on the back of my van on the scooter rack, plus chained to my motorscooter with an Oxford Monster Lock, but they robbed the lot. When I contacted Devitt Insurance through the club to make a claim on my e-bike they said that (although my policy clearly states 5000 pounds worth of cover for personal belongings with no exceptions shown for bikes) that they would only pay out on bikes stored INSIDE the motorhome and then only upto 500 pounds. Neither condition is mentioned in the policy ''exclusions'' so I feel a bit cheated. They are quick enough to take your cash off you, but ask for any back, by God, how dare you? What a weaselly bunch insurance companies are. I mean, who keeps their bikes INSIDE their motorhome for goodness sake? OK if you have a huge ''garage'', but most folks just cart them around on their racks like I do. Bloody con merchants.
 
After my last claim a few years ago, I decided never to claim for anything under £1,500. By the time they have taken the excess and the no claims and the loading of how ever many vehicles you have insured, for years and years. They make more than they pay out.
 
Yes, definitely Ombudsman.
Different set of circumstances but I pursued a claim to a letting agent through their complaints procedure ( I use the term loosely) and on to the Ombudsman. I won. It is worth pursuing when you know you’re in the right.

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Before you go to ombudsman you need to officially complain to the insurance company outlining your case and they have set procedures they have to adhere to as they are regulated, if they still knock you back then you go to the ombudsman not before. You will waste a lot if time being knocked back by ombudsman if you haven’t complained in the proper fashion.

have a look at the ombudsman website.
Good luck
 
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That's the problem with insurance its not till you make a claim that you find out if they are any good.
Just had a payment back from our Nationwide insurance for trip we had to cancel in March at the time everything was hitting the fan
Claim done on line and one call from them to confirm some info
Bit slower than normal but no hassle from them
 
We had a problem with something and asked trading standards after having let a holiday company mess us around for months. They said write a formal complaint first and set them a deadline, say 2 weeks, to respond or you will go to the ombudsman. This often works because they don't expect people to challenge them so they get away with it.
Same applies to going to the small claims court although in that case you can showthem the form you've already got prepared to send to the court.
We did that and heyho withing the two weeks we got a settlement offer which was reasonable so we took it. Wished we gone this route months earlier.

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I once wrote a motorbike off which was completely my fault,no-one else involved. My claim was rejected because on my application form I had missed a tick box. I told the insurance company through a very tense vociferous face to face conversation that they were happy enough to take my money knowing I had missed the tick but were now not happy to uphold their end of the agreement. They then paid out. Never accept the first offer and always fight every point through the correct channels.
 
Write again, there are template letters you can use online from sites like Which. Make clear that if they do not reply within a reasonable period ,( give them a bit of time whilst many staff are working from home) you will go via the ombudsman. I believe although free for you the firm has to pay to contest the case, it sharpens their minds.
 
Whilst I have every sympathy with your situation this does highlight a very important issue with E-bikes.... personally when we purchased ours which came to a substantial £4.5k I made sure I took out a separate standalone Ebike Insurance policy... I would recommend everyone should do this...having said that though they do have strict criteria on where they are kept and how they are secured..its a hell of a lot of money just to rely on an ordinary policy..
 
I was under the impression that anything fastened on the back is not insured, been on here a time or two.
 
Assuming the insurance policy is through Devitt acting as brokers for C&MC we had the same policy in place last year before changing to Comfort.
If it is the same policy I asked a couple of questions around theft for clarification prior to taking out the policy.

The policy states (extracts) -
"We will pay up to a combined amount of £5,000 in respect of loss or damage to:
• personal belongings, equipment (excluding permanent fixtures and fittings) or baggage in your motorhome;"

"What is not covered -
any amount over £500 for any single item other than an awning, tent or toilet tent to which a combined limit of £1,500 applies."

They confirmed the operative words in the first clause were "in" and "excluding permanent fixtures and fittings" and on that basis I changed possible plan to fit a towbar and bike rack to the rear of the motorhome as they would not be covered as they weren't in or permanently attached (excluding towbar) to the motorhome. The limit of £500 wasn't an issue as both bikes were less than that. I can't remember what their response was to a change to the policy to cover the bikes \ rack attached to the rear of the motorhome.

Given the above inclusions \ exclusions and limits I made sure items like laptop, etc are covered under our home insurance policy whilst in the motorhome.

Whilst I feel for the OP, and assuming the policy clauses have not changed for this year, the policy does seem to be clear and aligns to the response received upon raising the claim.

Obviously, if it's not C&MC policy through Devitt just ignore everything I've just said!

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Gellyneck said:
Assuming the insurance policy is through Devitt acting as brokers for C&MC we had the same policy in place last year before changing to Comfort.
If it is the same policy I asked a couple of questions around theft for clarification prior to taking out the policy.

The policy states (extracts) -
"We will pay up to a combined amount of £5,000 in respect of loss or damage to:
• personal belongings, equipment (excluding permanent fixtures and fittings) or baggage in your motorhome;"

"What is not covered -
any amount over £500 for any single item other than an awning, tent or toilet tent to which a combined limit of £1,500 applies."

They confirmed the operative words in the first clause were "in" and "excluding permanent fixtures and fittings" and on that basis I changed possible plan to fit a towbar and bike rack to the rear of the motorhome as they would not be covered as they weren't in or permanently attached (excluding towbar) to the motorhome. The limit of £500 wasn't an issue as both bikes were less than that. I can't remember what their response was to a change to the policy to cover the bikes \ rack attached to the rear of the motorhome.

Given the above inclusions \ exclusions and limits I made sure items like laptop, etc are covered under our home insurance policy whilst in the motorhome.

Whilst I feel for the OP, and assuming the policy clauses have not changed for this year, the policy does seem to be clear and aligns to the response received upon raising the claim.

Obviously, if it's not C&MC policy through Devitt just ignore everything I've just said!
Click to expand...
I think if it's worded like that its pretty clear that it's not covered and it's a waste of time persuing it. This isn't aimed at the op in this post but I sometimes think people don't realise that insurance companies need to take in a lot more in premium than they pay out in claims to keep in business. If its something that you are insuring because its a likely risk on something expensive and the premium is low it's odds on it's not covered once you read the small print it's like high premiums on travel insurance for existing health conditions who would cover a potentially huge claim for a low price?
 
Gellyneck said:
Assuming the insurance policy is through Devitt acting as brokers for C&MC we had the same policy in place last year before changing to Comfort.
If it is the same policy I asked a couple of questions around theft for clarification prior to taking out the policy.

The policy states (extracts) -
"We will pay up to a combined amount of £5,000 in respect of loss or damage to:
• personal belongings, equipment (excluding permanent fixtures and fittings) or baggage in your motorhome;"

"What is not covered -
any amount over £500 for any single item other than an awning, tent or toilet tent to which a combined limit of £1,500 applies."

They confirmed the operative words in the first clause were "in" and "excluding permanent fixtures and fittings" and on that basis I changed possible plan to fit a towbar and bike rack to the rear of the motorhome as they would not be covered as they weren't in or permanently attached (excluding towbar) to the motorhome. The limit of £500 wasn't an issue as both bikes were less than that. I can't remember what their response was to a change to the policy to cover the bikes \ rack attached to the rear of the motorhome.

Given the above inclusions \ exclusions and limits I made sure items like laptop, etc are covered under our home insurance policy whilst in the motorhome.

Whilst I feel for the OP, and assuming the policy clauses have not changed for this year, the policy does seem to be clear and aligns to the response received upon raising the claim.

Obviously, if it's not C&MC policy through Devitt just ignore everything I've just said!
Click to expand...
Yeah that's a point, have you tried claiming on your house insurance?
 
Mine are insured through my house policy with LV, I got confirmation, in writing, that they were covered for theft if locked to my bike rack. One of the reasons I went with LV was that they have unlimited European cover (maybe wishful thinking?) whereas most specialist bike insurance only covers Europe for 30 days.
 
Mick Kennedy said:
Just had my e-bike stolen from outside my motorhome, it was on the back of my van on the scooter rack, plus chained to my motorscooter with an Oxford Monster Lock, but they robbed the lot. When I contacted Devitt Insurance through the club to make a claim on my e-bike they said that (although my policy clearly states 5000 pounds worth of cover for personal belongings with no exceptions shown for bikes) that they would only pay out on bikes stored INSIDE the motorhome and then only upto 500 pounds. Neither condition is mentioned in the policy ''exclusions'' so I feel a bit cheated. They are quick enough to take your cash off you, but ask for any back, by God, how dare you? What a weaselly bunch insurance companies are. I mean, who keeps their bikes INSIDE their motorhome for goodness sake? OK if you have a huge ''garage'', but most folks just cart them around on their racks like I do. Bloody con merchants.
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Well I would never leave one on the back of a MH especially an expensive electric or any other type just asking for trouble. We changed our MH to one with a garage before we would take bikes away, nearly every tale of woe about aires and campsites involve bikes being taken from the back.

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I DO HAVE A HOUSE, BUT IT IS IN AUSTRALIA, SO MY HOUSE INSURANCE DEFINITELY DOESN'T COVER ME! ESSENTIALLY, I'M A FULL-TIMER UNTIL COVID-BLOWS OVER AND I CAN RETURN TO OZ. AGAIN, THANKS FOR THE ALL THE COMMENTS AND ADVICE, FOLKS. MICK.
 
Mick Kennedy said:
Just had my e-bike stolen from outside my motorhome, it was on the back of my van on the scooter rack, plus chained to my motorscooter with an Oxford Monster Lock, but they robbed the lot. When I contacted Devitt Insurance through the club to make a claim on my e-bike they said that (although my policy clearly states 5000 pounds worth of cover for personal belongings with no exceptions shown for bikes) that they would only pay out on bikes stored INSIDE the motorhome and then only upto 500 pounds. Neither condition is mentioned in the policy ''exclusions'' so I feel a bit cheated. They are quick enough to take your cash off you, but ask for any back, by God, how dare you? What a weaselly bunch insurance companies are. I mean, who keeps their bikes INSIDE their motorhome for goodness sake? OK if you have a huge ''garage'', but most folks just cart them around on their racks like I do. Bloody con merchants.
Click to expand...
The 'exclusions' is just a condensed version of the policy, just because it doesn't mention bikes specifically it doesn't mean they're automatically included. The only way to know for certain is to read the full policy itself which can be a pain but if you don't then you can't hold the company to blame.

It has been well reported on the forum that bikes kept on the rear of motorhomes are rarely covered by insurance as they are not locked to an 'immovable object' (yes I know it may seem daft as a MH is a big item, but it can be moved and stolen). If your policy therefore states there isn't any cover for bikes, or has a single item limit for items kept inside (which is the norm), then unfortunately no amount of claiming 'mis-selling' etc will help.

Sorry. :(
 
One reason why I insured the e-bike itself rather than relying on other policies to cover it.
 
YES, I'M SURE YOU AND GELLYNECK ARE RIGHT, MINXY GIRL. I GUESS I SHOULDN'T BITCH ABOUT INSURANCE COMPANIES - IT'S MY OWN FAULT FOR NOT READING THE SMALL PRINT. EXPENSIVE LESSON LEARNT. INDEED, I READ SOMEWHERE RECENTLY THAT ONE OF WARREN BUFFET'S FAVOURITE INVESTMENTS IS IN INSURANCE COMPANIES BECAUSE ''THEY JUST DON'T LOSE'' HE SAID. THANKS ALL, FOR THE ADVICE AND COMMENTS. MICK

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Sorry we couldn't find a 'loop hole' for you Mick.
 

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