Warning re: Comfort Insurance (1 Viewer)

[Jagtazman]

Was made aware last night from another site that Comfort excluded all Personal Possessions and Ancillary Equipment if your vehicle is not stored on your own driveway or a CASSOA site.

Mine is stored on a non CASSOA site and I have been with Comfort for nearly 3 years.

At no point has this exclusion been made clear to me.

I emailed them last night.

I received a pleasant phone call from Comfort today apologized. She had listened to all the phone calls and read all my emails when exchanged when I moved the vehicle to the secure location and she agreed I was never told.

We had a long conversation and the terms stand I have no cover.

As I advised to her, I find it extremely strange that if your van is Alarmed, Trackered, storage in a Secure site with CCTV, Alarmed, Fenced and Gated padlocked and keycoded entrance no cover can be provided.

I even explained the local CASSOA site is less secure.

I will therefore need to remove ALL personal possessions ie table, chairs, pots pans, clothes, toiletries as no cover is provided. I appreciate most are small items but they add up together I reckon I will have over £500 in contents Chairs alone are £100 each.

I know some of you will already remove everything and some will say well whats the problem.

It’s the principal in my eyes. I cannot see why a CASSOA certificate can provide cover when I personally know some CASSOA sites are not that secure and storage sites aint CASSOA as they refuse to pay a membership for little / no benefit.

Appreciate majority of people will not be bothered. However to remove everything is a ball ache, to find storage at home is going to be potentially problematic and then to have to load and unload everytime I use the van is impractical for me. Could easy add an extra hour, having to bring van back home from storage, put everything back away in its place.

I work full time and on a Friday want to get home, jump in van and go away. I have trouble as it is trying to reach campsite at a reasonable time.

I am going to have to give serious consideration whether I stay with Comfort going forwards and will now have to shop around and see if any other insurers have similar exclusions.

I was told in 9 years of working there this exclusion has never been queried. I do find that hard to believe.

Anyway this post is for information only, make you own decision, but consider yourself forewarned. J


.

 

[M-J]

Your home insurance might cover those items, if not you could get a separate policy just to cover them to save the ball ache of moving it all the time.

Either that or change insurance companies, they will not be able to penalise as you have already stated they agreed you had not be told.

 

[DavidG58]

As above if you should suffer a loss your home insurance will more than likely cover it

But even if the whole lot is taken would you bother claiming for £500 I wouldn’t, the increase in premium and in my case a £500 XS would stop me claiming

As for not being pointed out, my policy has pages of terms I don’t think a broker should tell you all of them

A useful heads up for some maybe but personally I think you are over thinking the problem if it is stored in a safe place worry about something else

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[trophychap]

Well home insurers may do 'Replacement as New' on what's in our house - but you wouldn't get it on your caravan or moho contents. So - do I even know how much I paid or how old the vast majority of our van contents are? I certainly can't provide a receipt for anything to prove it anyway.

Bathroom cabinet - exactly how much deodorant was in there? How many loo rolls? How much were those handtowels we bought in the sale at Le Clercs in 2009? Or those teaspoons ditto. What about the X pairs of Jen's knickers or my socks?

 

[Jagtazman]

Not overall worried need to work out how much gear I have in value, would not make a claim for a few hundred but if stolen from site for instance would have expected full contents cover. It might just mean I have to remove some extra items which I dont usually remove.

As mentioned above I do have All Risks PP on my home insurance in any event.

Re comment above re t&c's appreciate in wording but even Comfort agreed itsa a major exclusion and shouldbe made aware. They have agreed to re train their staff to ensure peeps are made aware.

Now I have calmed down, its probably not that bad !

Post mainly a heads up for peeps not aware who do leave alot of items in vans.

 

[Jagtazman]

UPDATE:-
I do have All Risks Personal Possession cover on my Home Contents, which is with Aviva also (don't figure and covers me for £1500 Theft from unattended vehciles, and full cover for other perils. so panic over. Just means 2 x excesses if make a claim which to be honest would only be for a catastrophic loss.
Its still the principal of the exclusion that annoys me.

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[sonny]

Good information

 

[joka250]

Notwithstanding any of above comments I tend to feel that any items kept in a locked and alarmed motorhome are as safe (or almost) as at home. Add in storage site security and you're well ahead of most homes.

 

[Jagtazman]

Notwithstanding any of above comments I tend to feel that any items kept in a locked and alarmed motorhome are as safe (or almost) as at home. Add in storage site security and you're well ahead of most homes.

Agree but what happens if theres a fire on site and your van gets written off as a result you'd loose all contents and might not be insured.
Unfortunately it happens :-(
Only concerned with a catostrophic loss.

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[thidwick]

It’s interesting stuff.
When I wanted insurance for our new motorhome, I looked at the Comfort policy document, and compared it with a couple of other policy documents. Reading the small print!
I really didn’t like the requirement in the Comfort policy that when we weren’t using the motorhome it had to be either on a CASSOA-rated site or our own driveway. On a couple of occasions we’ve been away to stay at one of our children’s homes, and left the motorhome on their driveway for a few days. So I didn’t go with the Comfort policy. (What constitutes not using the motorhome? Going shopping and leaving it in a car park? It seemed a really grey area. )
I get the impression that the Comfort motorhome insurance policy is a caravan policy slightly adjusted to suit a motorhome. Whereas most motorhome insurance policies are car policies slightly adjusted to include the habitation part.
In the end I went with Aviva via the caravan club.

 

[Stealaway]

Comfort have just told me that the contents are insured for upto £5000. I queried this as I don't think there is £500 worth ever in my van.
They stated that is the standard figure and not adjustable.

 

[Xabia]

In the end I went with Aviva via the caravan club.

Did you ever compare the Comfort policy with the Caravan Club as they are both underwritten by Aviva and it would be interesting to see if there are any variations in cover/wordings

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[thidwick]

Did you ever compare the Comfort policy with the Caravan Club as they are both underwritten by Aviva and it would be interesting to see if there are any variations in cover/wordings

Yes. The Comfort policy was very different. As I said, it is a caravan policy tweaked to relate to motorised vehicles.

 

[Jim]

I get the impression that the Comfort motorhome insurance policy is a caravan policy slightly adjusted to suit a motorhome.

While comfort are a broker they only use the one underwriter. They can only offer insurance that fits the Aviva profile of a perfect punter.

 

[rosalan]

I was not aware that the van insurance covered the van contents. A few years ago my van was stolen and the vans insurance (Saga at the time) covered the van and fixtures but not contents, they were covered as aleady stated by household insurance.
Stealaway You would be surprised at the cost of replacing the contents of your van. We were totally honest and the content value just exceeded the £2000 maximum payout. Over the years towels, shampoos etc, clothes, knives and forks, tools, shoes, electrical nic-nacs, wine and all the cupboards contents cost more than expected to replace.

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[Gellyneck]

C&MC (via Devitt) cover personal belongings and clothing up to £5000 on their motorhome policy.
It includes awnings, generators eek, gas bottles, tv's, etc.

 

[JJ]

Can anyone guess why...

I HATE INSURANCE COMPANIES?​

JJ

 

[Hagstrom]

It’s interesting stuff.
When I wanted insurance for our new motorhome, I looked at the Comfort policy document, and compared it with a couple of other policy documents. Reading the small print!
I really didn’t like the requirement in the Comfort policy that when we weren’t using the motorhome it had to be either on a CASSOA-rated site or our own driveway. On a couple of occasions we’ve been away to stay at one of our children’s homes, and left the motorhome on their driveway for a few days. So I didn’t go with the Comfort policy. (What constitutes not using the motorhome? Going shopping and leaving it in a car park? It seemed a really grey area. )
I get the impression that the Comfort motorhome insurance policy is a caravan policy slightly adjusted to suit a motorhome. Whereas most motorhome insurance policies are car policies slightly adjusted to include the habitation part.
In the end I went with Aviva via the caravan club.

As far as I know, Comfort are a broker and they use the Aviva Insurer. At least, that was so when I was insured with Aviva through Comfort 4 years ago and had to make a claim. You may not have avoided strict Aviva's conditions?

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[Crazylegs]

Interesting post, I guess there is some correlation between this and the many posts that claim Comfort was the cheapest quote.

 

[romany]

I seem to remember some information either on the web or in a newspaper that there was some kind of scam where car or holiday insurances were paying out but then looking to see if the customer was covered elsewhere, and then claiming back on those policies the first the customer new about it was when their premiums sky highed and then were told there had been a claim.
Damned if I can remember where i saw/heard it or I am at that age where I imagined it

 

[jeffmossy]

Comfort insurance lost me 8 years no claims bonus because they never asked me to send proof after I took out a new policy with them , then after 2 years with them they told me I had only got 2 years no claims . Wont be using them again

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