Cancelled LV Insurance

[Jester]

I appreciate some of this is out there all ready.

I cancelled my insurance with LV as they only covered 80% of the California, omitting the habitation area.
when I had read from other members here there was a issue I called LV for clarification and was advised they only offer £1000 for personal effects in the event of a clam? for me that meant phones cameras, money, watches, I pressed re the habitation area.

The answer was NO that is not covered.I asked as they had taken my money to cover a VW California Ocean why not, answer the underwriters will not accept conversions!
I escalated this issue twice and in the end managed to discuss the problem with a reasonable lady from the complaints department who had listened to my 2 taped conversations and agreed the error was theirs and would have paid out should I have claimed. Really!!

Apparently they now understand what a VW California Ocean and possibly a Beach is.

If you have insurance with LV ask them the question and put your mind at rest.

 

[Billy]

We also cancelled with them for the same reason as it was a very grey area, I even asked them to confirm in writing but they refused so we switched to Comfort.

 

[Wongo]

Its staggering really, they KNOW campervsns have cookers, beds etc. It’s just another excuse not to pay out

 

[GSX1300R]

I appreciate some of this is out there all ready.

I cancelled my insurance with LV as they only covered 80% of the California, omitting the habitation area.
when I had read from other members here there was a issue I called LV for clarification and was advised they only offer £1000 for personal effects in the event of a clam? for me that meant phones cameras, money, watches, I pressed re the habitation area.

The answer was NO that is not covered.I asked as they had taken my money to cover a VW California Ocean why not, answer the underwriters will not accept conversions!
I escalated this issue twice and in the end managed to discuss the problem with a reasonable lady from the complaints department who had listened to my 2 taped conversations and agreed the error was theirs and would have paid out should I have claimed. Really!!

Apparently they now understand what a VW California Ocean and possibly a Beach is.

If you have insurance with LV ask them the question and put your mind at rest.

Doesn’t your house insurance or Holiday insurance cover personal effects? We have never relied on just our motor vehicle insurance to cover everything. Also you mention “Conversions” . Surely The VW California is a factory built vehicle and not a conversion...But saying all this Motor Vehicle insurers are notorious for finding any loopholes to get out of paying up when the time arises.....

 

[andyinluton]

What they won’t cover is a kitchen fitted in a beach. Anything attached to the vehicle as delivered from vw is covered.

 

[GSX1300R]

What they won’t cover is a kitchen fitted in a beach. Anything attached to the vehicle as delivered from vw is covered.

I remember when we got our insurance from Admiral they asked about any fitted extras not supplied as standard when the vehicle was purchased... Lots of people change wheels fit side bars bike racks and upgrade entertainment systems etc....

 

[Billy]

The example they gave to me was if we had a side impact and the kitchen units were damaged, they would not be covered by the policy, I assume this would also be the case with the roof etc.. I realise that if they accept the cover and you have a claim they should pay out no matter what , but is it really worth all the hassle of fighting with them just to save a few pound. Might as well just go for a specialist insurer like Comfort, Caravan Club etc.and know you are fully covered.

 

[WelshGas]

They won't cover cooking accidents, water leaks etc

 

[GSX1300R]

The example they gave to me was if we had a side impact and the kitchen units were damaged, they would not be covered by the policy, I assume this would also be the case with the roof etc.. I realise that if they accept the cover and you have a claim they should pay out no matter what , but is it really worth all the hassle of fighting with them just to save a few pound. Might as well just go for a specialist insurer like Comfort, Caravan Club etc.and know you are fully covered.

I think probably in your case it would be best to go with a specialist camper van insurer just for piece of mind...But any vehicle manufactured with a lifting roof and kitchen units should be covered.....Insurance companies way of saying they don’t want your business....

 

[Azteccamper]

What they won’t cover is a kitchen fitted in a beach. Anything attached to the vehicle as delivered from vw is covered.

It actually states in my LV Policy that anything factory fitted to the vehicle is fully covered. Everything on my Cali was fitted in the factory and therefore covered surely?

 

[Azteccamper]

It actually states in my LV Policy that anything factory fitted to the vehicle is fully covered. Everything on my Cali was fitted in the factory and therefore covered surely?

Sorry I agree with you @andyinluton

 

[Kirk]

All too much of a grey area for my liking, even though my car is insured with LV I would not insure the Cali with them. I suspect it's a case of the sales agent telling you what you want to hear .

Wonder if anyone has has a claim with LV?

 

[WelshGas]

Wonder if anyone has has a claim with LV?

The Ultimate test.

 

[Azteccamper]

All too much of a grey area for my liking, even though my car is insured with LV I would not insure the Cali with them. I suspect it's a case of the sales agent telling you what you want to hear .

Wonder if anyone has has a claim with LV?

Update. Rang them today - my LV cover is due for renewal - and they said everything covered even if incident happened whilst cooking. Repeated that they knew the California was a factory fitted Campervan.

 

[Aidy P]

I use Comfort specialist campervan insurance.

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Comfort Insurance®, providers of award-winning Motorhome, Campervan and Caravan insurance cover for over 30 years. Prices start from just £220. Find out more.

www.comfort-insurance.co.uk

Very good and under written by Aviva
Had to claim when some tw@t drove into the back of the van in a shopping centre car park.
Repair done by VW. Excess waived too.
Couldn’t ask for better service.

 

[Wondering Star]

Surely if you insure a vehicle and the vehicle is clearly stated on documentation a contract is entered into, however any additions other than standard or manufacturer fitted options must be added.
I clarified this with LV and confirmed that standard and manufacturer's options were covered, however I did make one amendment to include the Westfelia towbar.
It may be more problematic if I'd had fitted a cooking unit in to our Beach.

 

[WelshGas]

Surely if you insure a vehicle and the vehicle is clearly stated on documentation a contract is entered into, however any additions other than standard or manufacturer fitted options must be added.
I clarified this with LV and confirmed that standard and manufacturer's options were covered, however I did make one amendment to include the Westfelia towbar.
It may be more problematic if I'd had fitted a cooking unit in to our Beach.

You have to be careful that a non-specialist insurance company will actually cover you for " Living/Camping " in your California, something you don't commonly do in a car.
So you go camping in a car with a tent. If the tent gets damaged you wouldn't claim on your car insurance, but with a California you would claim if there was a cooking fire. So get it in writing that the habitation area is covered for " Habitation " just as your Home Insurance covers your home for lifes little accidents.

 

[Wondering Star]

You have to be careful that a non-specialist insurance company will actually cover you for " Living/Camping " in your California, something you don't commonly do in a car.
So you go camping in a car with a tent. If the tent gets damaged you wouldn't claim on your car insurance, but with a California you would claim if there was a cooking fire. So get it in writing that the habitation area is covered for " Habitation " just as your Home Insurance covers your home for lifes little accidents.

Totally agree if I had an Ocean or cooked in the van I would have specialist insurance.
We dont even eat in ours, never mind cook.
Personal possessions are also covered on home insurance.

 

[WelshGas]

Totally agree if I had an Ocean or cooked in the van I would have specialist insurance.
We dont even eat in ours, never mind cook.
Personal possessions are also covered on home insurance.

Don't forget the Beach might have Electrical Hookup so a charger and mains circuit. A leisure Battery and 12v circuits + a Diesel Parking Heater if chosen. They would be covered in a car crash as they are Factory Fitted. Are they covered when in use? So the question is not confined just to the Ocean. Get it in writing.

 

[capt kirk]

I have just renewed with lv after the nice lady confirmed we had a motor caravan and not a California as a California was classed as a car and as such did not cover habitation as cars don't have any ?. I explained what a California is and she was very clear that she new about this issue and the motor caravan designation changes the policy to one that covers everything in the van and the van itself. She diligently went through the policy and I came away confident she knew what she was talking about. She was also aware of the recent change of type implications and was confident it wouldn't affect my insurance. She also said that a note was put on my file confirming the above conversation and why the change was made. So until I have an incident (fingers crossed not) we wont know how good is their word.

 

[WelshGas]

I have just renewed with lv after the nice lady confirmed we had a motor caravan and not a California as a California was classed as a car and as such did not cover habitation as cars don't have any ?.

I’m not sure I understand your first sentence. Could you elaborate further. Your avatar says you have a California Ocean.

 

[capt kirk]

I’m not sure I understand your first sentence. Could you elaborate further. Your avatar says you have a California Ocean.

Lv dont class a california ocean as a motor caravan but that is the classification it needs to get full cover for habitation hence the convoluted explanation why she had to change the classification

 

[Wilbur]

Having digested the various posts, I have spoken with LV this morning regard my insurance cover. In brief they are aware a California Ocean falls within the definition of a motorhome and this has been confirmed by the Insurance Underwriter. A note has been placed on file and they have agreed to confirm in writing. I asked a series of questions regarding the detail of the cover, habitation etc and the conversation was recorded. I am content for the moment to remain with LV.

 

[paulo12]

I’ve been watching this post with interest as my renewal is due I got a quote from LV which really sounded too good to be true I spoke with them and was assured by the young lady yep that’s it everything is insured no problem I asked her if she knew what a California ocean was and what was inside regarding cooker sink fridge bed electric pop up roof etc she said fine no problem I asked her to please check with someone she returned to the call after around 5 minutes and apologised she had got it wrong and the inside wasn’t actually covered??? At this point I thought mmm not for me and finished up going with just kampers who knew exactly what I was talking about it’s now insured with an agreed value of £55000 as a camper and I can now sleep easily in it I also saved £100 on my renewal quote from the previous insurer I would really check out you have the correct level of insurance and not wait if you need to claim god forbid

 

[Trebor]

Have just renewed my insurance with Safeguard but on closer examination of the paperwork see that the insurer is Highway which I see in the small print is Liverpool Victoria in Bournemouth . Alarm bells rang as I have read quite a bit about LV on this forum over the years not offering full cover for California . Any views ?