Business Use

[DM]

What do members think about having business use cover? I am currently with Comfort but am tiring of the stress associated with the 48 hour rule. CMC has quoted me £25 lower this year but they seem to exclude any type of business use including commuting - "excludes travel to and from permanent place of business".

Has anyone got CMC to include business use. All I want to do is to be able to very occasionally drive to a place of work. Mrs DM occasionally takes it to work if it needs to be dropped into the dealer - as its on her way. I travel a fair bit for work and occasionally work in a weekend's kayaking or biking around a Monday or Friday business meeting in Wales, the South-west or the lakes. I don't think I could do this with the CMC restriction.

I am fully covered for SDP + business use with Comfort but they have the dreaded 48 hour rule. To be fair they have always been OK when I have advised that it will be parked away from home. But I am likely to need to leave it unaccompanied on a campsite later this year whilst I go off for a multi-day kayak trip and I suspect Comfort will baulk at that.

So do I accept the CMC work restriction or the Comfort 48 hour rule.

Why do they make it so hard

 

[Louis II]

I would check the definition of business use. Business use normally means using the vehicle to carry out work as opposed to just travelling to work. The latter is normally classed as commuting and included as std. That said I have no experience with CMC insurance.

 

[sensisuperstar]

I would check the definition of business use. Business use normally means using the vehicle to carry out work as opposed to just travelling to work. The latter is normally classed as commuting and included as std. That said I have no experience with CMC insurance.

I think the OP need Class One business user added to their policy. Comfort do that as suggested, but they are the only company I could get to cover me.

In regards to the definition of business use, I thought the same, but was told by a number of insurance companies that business use includes home to work. One insurer told me plenty of people aren’t covered for the commute as they don’t have Class One.

 

[B J G]

This guide may clarify your requirements and simplify Insurance speak-

Blog | Be Wiser Insurance

Choose insurance for the road ahead...the Be Wiser way with our blogs. Find out more and read our articles here.

www.bewiser.co.uk

 

[Van Maurice]

Business use does not normally mean travel to and from work. I have business use with Comfort for the times I go out during the day for business meetings. Hope this helps.

 

[soulstyledevon]

So how will they know that the circumstances was a business situation...???
Let’s say...

 

[sensisuperstar]

So how will they know that the circumstances was a business situation...???
Let’s say...

Personally I wouldn’t try defraud an insurer, not many poor ones and they certainty aren’t daft.

I suspect it wouldn’t take Sherlock Holmes to work out what someone’s intentions were in the day of any accident / claim and if there were any doubts the emphasis would be on the claimant to prove otherwise.

I guess you’d need to prove you had the day off if the accident happened on a normal working day and on the route to and from your work place. Nothing stopping the insurers asking your HR department to make sure you were signed off that day.

In the scheme of things, the extra cost to make sure you are insured correctly is relatively low, especially if you own a California!

 

[Nick.C]

I think the OP need Class One business user added to their policy. Comfort do that as suggested, but they are the only company I could get to cover me.

In regards to the definition of business use, I thought the same, but was told by a number of insurance companies that business use includes home to work. One insurer told me plenty of people aren’t covered for the commute as they don’t have Class One.

I managed to get quotes from a couple of others, Adrian Flux from memory, but Comfort were the cheapest for me.

 

[DM]

the extra cost to make sure you are insured correctly is relatively low

If only it were that easy. I’m not trying to avoid cost. I’m simply trying to find an insurer that covers all my scenarios. Comfort are great for business use but the 48 hour rule is problematic, whilst the CMC doesn’t have that restriction but won’t let me combine a weekend away with a business meeting.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Personally I wouldn’t try defraud an insurer, not many poor ones and they certainty aren’t daft.

I suspect it wouldn’t take Sherlock Holmes to work out what someone’s intentions were in the day of any accident / claim and if there were any doubts the emphasis would be on the claimant to prove otherwise.

I guess you’d need to prove you had the day off if the accident happened on a normal working day and on the route to and from your work place. Nothing stopping the insurers asking your HR department to make sure you were signed off that day.

In the scheme of things, the extra cost to make sure you are insured correctly is relatively low, especially if you own a California!

I think you give insurers to much credit.
Whats the issue with there 48 hr rule...?

 

[andyinluton]

I’m with NFU excellent service with full business use ( home to a fixed place of work is commuting, anything else is business) insured as a camper & excellent service when I made a claim with a previous vehicle.

 

[DM]

Whats the issue with there 48 hr rule...?

Comfort has a rule which states that the van cannot be 'stored' for more than 48 hours at any location other than the nominated storage location (in my case that is my drive at home). This means that if the van is left at any other location for more than 48 hours it is not insured. Classic example is an airport carpark.

I used my Van to drive to a ski resort at Christmas where it was parked up for a week. I did speak to Comfort about that and got written clarification that they would consider the vehicle as 'in use' during this period as long as I was close by and visited it regularly during the period.

 

[DM]

I’m with NFU

Is that a specialist campervan policy @andyinluton ?

 

[ArunAlec]

I think you give insurers to much credit.
Whats the issue with there 48 hr rule...?

If it’s just a small claim I would agree but should there be a large claim, maybe from a third party, then the insurance company will look at any opportunity to minimise their liability.
I know someone who had an accident which resulted in his passengers and himself having serious injuries. His insurance company found that he had failed to declare a previous claim when he had a moped and refused to pay damages to his passenger. He ended up with a bill of £10k back in the early eighties, took him years to pay it off.

 

[andyinluton]

Is that a specialist campervan policy @andyinluton ?

Yes - Nfu will insure just about anything on wheels or tracks, but also give mainstream benefits such as cover for driving other vehicles etc

 

[B J G]

Brentacre seem to be the most recommended by the van to camper DIY converters for cost effective cover.
No personal use so only what may be worth talking to.

Contact Us | UK Team | Brentacre Insurance

Need to contact our team? Use our contact form or details found on this page and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

www.brentacre.co.uk

 

[Ch1pbutty]

JustKampers offer business use as an option.

 

[SeaKale]

I’m with NFU excellent service with full business use ( home to a fixed place of work is commuting, anything else is business) insured as a camper & excellent service when I made a claim with a previous vehicle.

Another vote for NFU - no problem with flexible use - social and business and much cheaper than some of the alternative quotes (of course most would not quote for business use, or even for a Beach.)

SeaKale

 

[DM]

Thanks to everyone for your input. My final decision is to add the Cali to my Admiral Multi-car policy. They will offer SDP + Class 1 Business use for half the cost of Comfort without the constraint of the 48 hour rule.

The downside is that they will only cover £500 of contents. But I also have £1,500 cover for contents in unattended motor vehicles on my home insurance policy so I will take the risk on that.

For reference. NFU was 50% more expensive than comfort (3x Admiral) and CMC would not offer any business use of any type.

 

[MeltedGoldfish]

Looks like you have your answer @DM so I won't ramble on about my all my previous insurance highs and lows....but I too was put off by the Comfort 48hr rule. For me in particular, the van sometimes stays at work (in a secure compound) for a few days during the week to save space on the drive and the daily car-shuffle. It could potentially limit how you use the van. Comfort seem to be the only company that apply it (that I came across), and I guess it's to stop people insuring motorhomes at the home address then leaving them stored in an insecure/unattended (ie higher risk) location for long periods. They did tell me that airport carparks were OK, but you had to notify them in advance and it had to be one where you parked yourself/kept the keys. Just glad that for once I paid attention to the 'terms & conditions' patter just before handing over the premium!

 

[Goss]

I needed class 3 business use and the only company that would cover me was Comfort for around £450. It was a painful process going through all of the detail several times but got there in the end!

Goss

 

[soulstyledevon]

Looks like you have your answer @DM so I won't ramble on about my all my previous insurance highs and lows....but I too was put off by the Comfort 48hr rule. For me in particular, the van sometimes stays at work (in a secure compound) for a few days during the week to save space on the drive and the daily car-shuffle. It could potentially limit how you use the van. Comfort seem to be the only company that apply it (that I came across), and I guess it's to stop people insuring motorhomes at the home address then leaving them stored in an insecure/unattended (ie higher risk) location for long periods. They did tell me that airport carparks were OK, but you had to notify them in advance and it had to be one where you parked yourself/kept the keys. Just glad that for once I paid attention to the 'terms & conditions' patter just before handing over the premium!

Im due to renew this month and the 48hr thing is the only bug bearer with Comfort.
It’s my cheapest quote, annoyingly.

We often like to check into hotels on our travels.
We also use the van for airport runs and stay at friends and family who live far away. We don’t always sleep in the van, but a long weekend away at the in-laws could cause us some issues with this policy.

48hrs is to short. They could extend that by something more reasonable

 

[larrylamb]

Im due to renew this month and the 48hr thing is the only bug bearer with Comfort.
It’s my cheapest quote, annoyingly.

We often like to check into hotels on our travels.
We also use the van for airport runs and stay at friends and family who live far away. We don’t always sleep in the van, but a long weekend away at the in-laws could cause us some issues with this policy.

48hrs is to short. They could extend that by something more reasonable

Comfort just ask to be informed of the location in advance if left unattended for more than 48 hours. Has anyone had anywhere refused cover because of this?

 

[DM]

stay at friends and family
[/QUO

. Has anyone had anywhere refused cover because of this

I will need to leave my van in a small campsite in Scotland later this year whilst I go on 2/3 day hiking / kayaking trips. I was told at renewal that they would not cover this scenario.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I will need to leave my van in a small campsite in Scotland later this year whilst I go on 2/3 day hiking / kayaking trips. I was told at renewal that they would not cover this scenario.

Ive given them another ring today.
Apparently if you were staying at a hotel but returning to the vehicle each day, then it’s fine.
If you are leaving the vehicle somewhere for more than 48 hrs, campsite, airport. They would need to be informed and could potentially charge you for the privilege...
Although the policy has some good cover in some areas, personnel effects etc.
It lacks in others.
Such as no courtesy car...