Motorhome Insurance

[Jim]

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

 

[Janine]

Why can't they just quote their cheapest price straight off instead of making us keep going back to play one company off against another?

 

[Mikeco]

Haha why is the forum playing up?

Thought you were trying to get your message over.

 

[mike mcglynn]

Jim I speak with some experience ,re. european breakdown cover could you ask the insurance people to ensure what exactly you are covered for as we were passed onto a separate company and it became a nightmare to deal with and in the end all we were covered for was towing off the scene of the breakdown to a main dealer . Although this was some time back things have imho not changed.Thanks

 

[Janine]

Thought you were trying to get your message over.

Well it does pee me off twice a year

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[sallylillian]

When calling a company be able to highlight particular items of contentious cover that you need and get an answer that they will or will not cover it/them without the ins and outs of a ducks arse on all your personal details for them to say at the end of 20 mins sorry we don't cover a van over £50k or some other equally innocuous feature.

 

[sallylillian]

Actually understand motor homes and the needs of their owners.

 

[Theonlysue]

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.

 

[Burgo]

Over here in Spain roadside recovery is built into all policies. Strikes me as a really good idea, especially when you consider the length / weight of some MHs.
Secondly, though probably a bit trickier, is the continental model of "vehicles being insured to be driven by people" rather than the UK model whereby the person is insured to drive a vehicle. I'd like to hear a stance on that.

 

[mikebeaches]

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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[sallylillian]

Shop around
I do wonder who insures the £200,000 plus motorhomes.

Not many at premiums that make any sense. However probably not a question that Jim would get an answer to?

 

[canopus]

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?

 

[SandraL]

A lot of people add accessories. Solar panel or b2b chargers etc. Will insurers cover self fitted extras or will they insist on "professional" fit? I guess the other main item is fitting refillable gas cylinders.

 

[Jev88]

Give us the option to include or exclude added items? Eg, if I add Solar to an old MH I want to know if it puts my premium up or down or makes no difference? Or give me a choice to exclude it and keep my premium down?
I get my best deals by using a broker that charge £45 for their services, and even with the £45 extra were the cheapest? Not a complaint but that makes no sense to me.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Can members of MHF have a discount (like the 2 older established club members).

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[rosalan]

Can members of MHF have a discount (like the 2 older established club members).

I have just finished searching just about all insurance companies who have some focus on Motorhomes. At least two did recognise MHFun for discount. I should have written them down but the bottom line at the time was finding the best value. Just about to be 80 frightens some off and all premiums have risen, perhaps because of my age. I ended up with Adrian Flux over the phone.They were cheapest but I had to accept their quote there and then if I wanted that price.

 

[Silver-Fox]

I do wonder who insures the £200,000 plus motorhomes.

Probably the companies that insure 400 to 500k cars ?

 

[gus-lopez]

Over here in Spain roadside recovery is built into all policies. Strikes me as a really good idea, especially when you consider the length / weight of some MHs.
Secondly, though probably a bit trickier, is the continental model of "vehicles being insured to be driven by people" rather than the UK model whereby the person is insured to drive a vehicle. I'd like to hear a stance on that.

You've also left out the part that it also covers you for anywhere in the EU. I was surprised as I used adac last year to be recovered when the agent told me my spanish policy covered the same. The cover on this van also insludes recovery/repatriation,hotel costs, car hire ,more or less the same as adac just doesn't have the medical cover that adac does.

Probably the companies that insure 400 to 500k cars ?

If you are buying vehicles at the amount then you'd probably know that depositing 500k with the Attorney General covers you for any liabilities re; claims & one payment covers all vehicles you own as long as detailed. The bonus is the Gov pay you far better interest rate on the deposited money than you will get anywhere else.

 

[Mark and Mindy]

When we purchased our first PVC the conversion was performed by one of the major conversion companies but when we took delivery the vehicle was still registered as a Panel Van and it was our responsibility to to get the change to Motor Caravan. This caused some difficulty with our insurers because they did not want to provide insurance with the vehicle classed as a Panel Van.

Mark

 

[flatpackchicken]

A very important point on European recovery back to the UK. I am with comfort ins and just put a point in Mh about it regarding the maximum cost they will go up to of £5000 in total for all parts of the breakdown and recovery including any hire cars hotels train fares taxis etc. I know of 2 people both with 8 m mhs that broke down in Spain and not to far from each other and needed to pay extra for the recovery back to the UK if they wanted it (neither did) as both would had exceeded the £5000 costs they allow because of the previous breakdown and subsequent recovery’s to local garages and dealers. I understand that some other insurance companies have a no limit recovery back to the UK but you never know until it happens !!!! Although I do know personally of another mh breakdown in Portugal where the mh was recovered back to the UK and the driver along with dog went back to UK via train all within the £5000 limit as it was a smaller mh and flitted on back of trailer along with 3 other cars that was already on the truck so I suppose it was a lot cheaper and within the £5000 limit because the other cars paid for trip to but being 8m long may require a truck to themselves so making the journey cost over £5000 and that’s very worrying, knowing that if you have a big Mh and you are in the depths of Portugal Spain Italy Greece etc etc then recovery back to the UK is virtually impossible within the £5000 limit so please find an insurance company Jim that guarantees unlimited costs for recovery back to the UK from anywhere they are insured to go.

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[Parrot Face]

Pre Brexit, insurance covered the EU community countries but not those outside it like Bosnia, Albania etc. Post Brexit will all countries including the likes of Bosnia and Albania be grouped together and therefore covered?

 

[Scotsblood]

As a couple have already mentioned:-

What exactly constitutes a modification?
What ‘extras’ increase premiums?
Definitely need clarification on alarms and trackers as demands seem to differ without logical reasons.
Clarify breakdown cover specifications.

Hope that helps!

 

[Pausim]

I find built in new customer discounts badly distort quotes. I don’t want to change my insurance every year and think all insurance quotes should clearly state how much of the quoted price is a discount that might disappear in subsequent years.

 

[Shrimp]

Why is it dearer to insure a Motorhome that is lived in 365 days of year, it must be more secure/looked after than a Motorhome that is only used for holidays then left alone for weeks/months?

 

[Gaston aires]

My cousin has a very successful insurance company. She insures lots of footballers and their Ferraris and lambos etc. She doesn’t insure Motorhomes because the owners are generally tight fisted, her words.
Moral. Footballers highly paid, not much savvy. Motorhomers, savvy, watch the pennies types, I include myself in this bracket.
Phil

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[busby]

My cousin has a very successful insurance company. She insures lots of footballers and their Ferraris and lambos etc. She doesn’t insure Motorhomes because the owners are generally tight fisted, her words.
Moral. Footballers highly paid, not much savvy. Motorhomers, savvy, watch the pennies types, I include myself in this bracket.
Phil

So true,,so many look at cost instead of quality, when it comes to insurance but dont blink buying a 60 k plus van.,,Many cant help it..BUSBY.

 

[nicholsong]

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

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

 

[sallylillian]

My cousin has a very successful insurance company. She insures lots of footballers and their Ferraris and lambos etc. She doesn’t insure Motorhomes because the owners are generally tight fisted, her words.
Moral. Footballers highly paid, not much savvy. Motorhomers, savvy, watch the pennies types, I include myself in this bracket.
Phil

Your cousin has an interesting perspective a bit like saying everyone from Scotland and Yorkshire must own motorhomes because they are tight fisted.

 

[The Old Man]

Do you/Will you offer a price match scheme?

Do you offer any loyalty discounts or are your best prices offered to new customers?

Is windscreen cover included or offered as an extra?

 

[The Wino]

It would be interesting to know what is the biggest cost in claims as I wonder if it's personal injury why the MH value affects premiums so much (although not us we are in a relatively cheap one).

Our son used to get quotes describing his job truthfully but in different words the quotes varied quite a bit.

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[richard8]

Interestingly we broke down at Calais in the shuttle complex last summer returning to the UK. Our breakdown co, LV Britannia were really good, hotel, taxis, hire car, foot passengers home etc. The problem came that it took 5 weeks before our mh arrived home. Since then however, I spoke to the company that actually hauled our mh back to uk from France and they said that was typical timing for that time of year. They also said that of all the national breakdown companies that they haul for LV Britannia was the one they would recommend

 

[Fletton]

My gripe...

Bought a Moho....
First two yrs... £350 fully comp etc.. (with a home address)
The went full time... ( Sure you saw the thread Jim )... Then £1050 first yr...
£990 second...
£1005 third...
...
But....unable to"shop around" as only Aviva will underwrite... Yes ... I know... There are now two "brokers"... (I'm with Comfort)..but same underwriter.....

However, in my opinion...

So in F/T cases.... The common risks are less....

There argument.. Is a postcode issue I'm led to believe... I say BS...

As a full timer.... More particular about how I drive... (No Moho no accommodation)...
Same with places I park up....

If it wasn't "law".... I'd get myself down the betting shop.... For better odds... After all it's the same game.....