Beach insurance

DebsWhite · Jan 11, 2013

Anyone had any trouble insuring a Cali Beach? I've had it turned down by numerous insurers as they say that it isn't quite a camper and it isn't quite an mph. I can not find a motorhome policy that will cover it, having tried Adrian Flux, comfort, just Kampers, footman James, allianz.

Halifax want £3000!

Any help welcomed.

Debs

James · Jan 11, 2013

Hi Debs

It's a camper on the V5 but not in the eyes of the DVLA, so most insurance companies appear to go into meltdown when you are trying to insure it.

Adrian Flux will insure it, they were my broker and insured me through Highway for about £800, which considering a have a previous claim and only 6 years driving experience is quite reasonable, in fact less than my previous Volvo.

You do need to go the specialist route, my insurance was done by classing it as a VW converted camper. I had similar problems to you and that is how they got round it. I had an accident recently and they were really good, so I know insurance works lol.

James

sebking · Jan 11, 2013

Direct Line insure the Cali as a car, therefore keeps NCB etc. They will also do it under their Van division but the excess is huge.

Seb

DebsWhite · Jan 11, 2013

Thanks both ... managed to get a quote from VW too, but given that my husband and I both have our own cars which we are using our no-claims on, the policy prices are huge! Interesting that you say Adrian Flux insured yours - they turned the beach down straight away this morning.

Thanks again,

Debs

James · Jan 11, 2013

DebsWhite said:
Thanks both ... managed to get a quote from VW too, but given that my husband and I both have our own cars which we are using our no-claims on, the policy prices are huge! Interesting that you say Adrian Flux insured yours - they turned the beach down straight away this morning.

Thanks again,

Debs

Adrian Flux turned me down as well, I simply employed the classic call centre trick, call again and speak to a different person.

Aside from Adrian Flux there are a whole range of companies who will insure it but speak to Highway

http://www.highway-insurance.co.uk/

Not saying they are the best but I've insured my Beach and my previous T25 through them.

James

Tayls · Jan 11, 2013

Hi Debs

this intrigued me so I went on to Compare the Market and put my details in - I selected a cali Beach 140 2011, worth 30k and got lots of quotes - the top 3 (from Admiral, Diamond and Elephnat were all under £400 - lowest was £364) - I think they're all the same company under differnt names.

Perhaps give that a try - I'm insured with Comfort and pay £250/year for comparison purposes - I put a higher mileage in than I have my SE insured for so could get it lower if I was really looking for a quote.

You don't say where you live, your age, driving record etc, etc so your price may well be higher of course

Hope this helps
Ian

DebsWhite · Jan 11, 2013

I did that originally, jumped onto compare the market and got very similar quotes - when using my 9yrs + no claims- When you take that away, as it is in use on my other car, all of the low quotes instantly and magically disappear!

No surprise really - but trying to find a policy that will allow mirroring of no claims on a beach, is proving elusive!

Debs

Maxi_mus · Jan 11, 2013

Hi

My Beach is insured with National Farmers Union(NFU), may be worth a try?

maui2512 · Nov 18, 2013

Tayls said:
Hi Debs

this intrigued me so I went on to Compare the Market and put my details in - I selected a cali Beach 140 2011, worth 30k and got lots of quotes - the top 3 (from Admiral, Diamond and Elephnat were all under £400 - lowest was £364) - I think they're all the same company under differnt names.

Perhaps give that a try - I'm insured with Comfort and pay £250/year for comparison purposes - I put a higher mileage in than I have my SE insured for so could get it lower if I was really looking for a quote.

You don't say where you live, your age, driving record etc, etc so your price may well be higher of course

Hope this helps
Ian

hmm interesting - i might be picking up my new Beach on Friday and suddenly thought I ought to get my insurance sorted out..Compare the market didn't offer up the Beach as an option, just 4 different SE models. And Comfort have said they won't cover the Beach either…back to the drawing board!

James · Nov 18, 2013

When I moved to Devon my insurance dropped by about £400 (I used to live in Essex)

James

SteveM · Nov 18, 2013

I am current with Admiral for just less than £200, that was much cheaper than my Smart with the same factors! The first year I was with VW directly, but even they need to speak to their underwriting department to cover a beach, it cost about £550. The brokers / specialists I found poor to deal with and did not give me any competitive quotes.

Steve.

Countryoak · Nov 18, 2013

Ours is insured with Saga, you have to be 50 or over though, cost just under £350 for a 13 reg beach.

maui2512 · Nov 18, 2013

Great, thanks both. I'll try Admiral, VW, A Plan, Adrian Flux tomorrow and see what they all offer up!

dalzios · Nov 19, 2013

I used direct line. Can only have one car on NCB though as you say. My other car is so cheap to insure didn't make much difference and the next quote I got was so much more that the total of the two was less than any other quote by a mile. They also agreed to cover all the extras over the base vehicle which was a bit of a worry for me with a non campervan policy. Hope I never have to test that though!

Goldie · Nov 19, 2013

maui2512 said:
Tayls said:

Hi Debs

this intrigued me so I went on to Compare the Market and put my details in - I selected a cali Beach 140 2011, worth 30k and got lots of quotes - the top 3 (from Admiral, Diamond and Elephnat were all under £400 - lowest was £364) - I think they're all the same company under differnt names.

Perhaps give that a try - I'm insured with Comfort and pay £250/year for comparison purposes - I put a higher mileage in than I have my SE insured for so could get it lower if I was really looking for a quote.

You don't say where you live, your age, driving record etc, etc so your price may well be higher of course

Hope this helps
Ian

Click to expand...

hmm interesting - i might be picking up my new Beach on Friday and suddenly thought I ought to get my insurance sorted out..Compare the market didn't offer up the Beach as an option, just 4 different SE models. And Comfort have said they won't cover the Beach either…back to the drawing board!

My Beach came with 7 days free insurance from VW. Sorted out in 15 minutes on a Saturday afternoon. It then gave me a week to sort things out with the car it was replacing. In the end I continued with Direct Line until the end of the year.

DVLA class the body type as a Motor Home / Caravan, although tax it as a diesel car!

Andy

maui2512 · Nov 19, 2013

Adrian Flux are coming in at £554, VW at £789 (although he then offered to drop to £664 to try and match the price!), and Admiral coming in at £339

VW trying to sell it on the fact that they will use genuine VW parts and mend it at a main dealership if it needs work doing on it…although I"m wondering whether that is necessarily a good thing if it's not that close by…!

Goldie · Nov 19, 2013

I had a quote from VW following my 7 days free insurance. I didn't take it up but recently received this offer from them.

https://www.insurewithvolkswagen.co.uk/Products/Ensurance/

Not sure how it works and how your insurance company would react to VW stepping in and taking over accident management, but it may solve the issue of the use of genuine VW parts etc.

Andy