Campervan Insurance

[AlanV]

I haven't posted on here before but have used it as a great source of good advice, which is a blessing.
I wanted to ask about insurance. As I have never made an insurance claim before I am having great trouble wading through the minefield of Campervan insurance.
I have a VW T5 California which has some damage on the front offside, its a mess but not major structural damage. I hit a neighbours fence at about 2 miles an hour.
I am insured by Safegaurd. I contacted them immediately to ask do I go through them to get the damage repaired or should I pay for it myself. There reply was, "well as you have told us about you accident you will immediately lose your no claims and your premium will go up by £300.00". Not the answer I was expecting.
I discovered that Safegard is part of Swinton insurance. To get the van fixed, it has to be collected on a trailer by a huge American auction company called Copart, who deliver it to some place in Hertfordshire, who then assess the damage and report to AXA who then allocates the job to some unknown garage to get it fixed. During this whole process there seems to be no feedback or way of contacting AXA directly.

This sounds like some nightmare scenario.
Has anyone else had to go through this and have they found it satisfactory or a disaster ??

 

[dspuk]

TBH I'd have got a quote before I spoke to them for this very reason. You have to weigh up the cost of any increase (it was your fault so they will increase as you are "accident prone") vs the lack of no claims etc agaisnt teh cost. Not sure what the damage is specifically but sounds like something you could get fixed in and around 1K. I'd have paid the K. We had a white whale hit us on the NC500 and damaged the wing mirror. Decided to fix myself rather than do anything with insurance of any sort as even a "not my fault claim" would increase premiums.

 

[RockinNRollin]

They shouldn't eradicate your NCD unless you actually make a claim. Unfortunately the business around increased premium just because they are aware of it is a fact of life; they sometimes ask a direct question along these lines for quotes too "have you been involved in an accident in the last x years", note there's no mention of a claim here either, but failing to declare can leave you open to invalidating your insurance. I remember a kid crashed his bike into my car when it was parked up many many years ago; the kid was fine (bounced) but it smashed a rear light and dented the boot. The parent of the kid wasn't very forthcoming ("if you think you're getting a penny out of us, you've got another thing coming") and neither were the police, so made the mistake of asking my insurer what to do. They said I could make an own-fault claim (!) and I said no thanks, they then notified me my premium will increase going forward as I've been involved in a collison!

Insurance it totally driven by risk calculations; statistically, someone who has been involved in any kind of bump is more likely to be involved in another one than someone who has never had a bump, so they risk-load your insurance accordingly and it goes up.

 

[andyinluton]

To get the van fixed, it has to be collected on a trailer by a huge American auction company called Copart, who deliver it to some place in Hertfordshire, who then assess the damage and report to AXA who then allocates the job to some unknown garage to get it fixed.

In case you are not aware Copart are effectively a scrap merchant that auctions off damaged vehicles, let them have it & I would suggest that will be the last you see of it.

Check your insurance documents to see what it says about not using their approved repairer, normally you loose the right to a courtesy car which may or may not be a problem to you.

Get a quote or two from local bodywork places if you can & put them forward to Safeguard for approval. As long as there's no california specific damage a 2mph impact should be anything that a half decent bodyshop cant fix.

 

[Grigio Van Grigio]

A no-fault claim should not affect your premium. I was hit by a gardener with a trailer outside my house a couple of years ago. I spoke to Safeguard who wanted to use their approved repairers but I told them I would get a claims management company in and use my own, local body shop. They dealt with the third party’s insurers and it was painless. My premium actually went down at renewal. A no fault claim is exactly that, not your fault. Equally, I’ve been declaring this claim since and I have not noticed any difference in the quotes I’ve been getting.

 

[andyinluton]

A no-fault claim should not affect your premium.

I think the OP may struggle to persuade his insurance company that it was the gatepost that hit his van rather than the other way round.

 

[Grigio Van Grigio]

I think the OP may struggle to persuade his insurance company that it was the gatepost that hit his van rather than the other way round.

Agreed! I was more responding to a comment elsewhere in this thread about no fault claims increasing premiums. I also deliberately used the words “should not affect your premium” as there is a distinct lack of clarity around the calculation of premiums and underwriters can be funny buggers (I’ve spent over 30 years as one, albeit not motor!).

 

[AlanV]

I failed to mention the reason I hit the fence. I was driving very slowly down a hill in the winter and drove over a small patch of ice, I failed to notice that the camber on the road was quite steep. Needless to say I lost traction and slid diagonally into the fence.
Can anyone recommend a good garage that does competent body repairs

 

[Grigio Van Grigio]

Where are you based?

Are you sure you don’t want to go via your insurance? That looks very expensive to me. Do you have protected NCD?

 

[OkaydokeyMark]

I haven't posted on here before but have used it as a great source of good advice, which is a blessing.
I wanted to ask about insurance. As I have never made an insurance claim before I am having great trouble wading through the minefield of Campervan insurance.
I have a VW T5 California which has some damage on the front offside, its a mess but not major structural damage. I hit a neighbours fence at about 2 miles an hour.
I am insured by Safegaurd. I contacted them immediately to ask do I go through them to get the damage repaired or should I pay for it myself. There reply was, "well as you have told us about you accident you will immediately lose your no claims and your premium will go up by £300.00". Not the answer I was expecting.
I discovered that Safegard is part of Swinton insurance. To get the van fixed, it has to be collected on a trailer by a huge American auction company called Copart, who deliver it to some place in Hertfordshire, who then assess the damage and report to AXA who then allocates the job to some unknown garage to get it fixed. During this whole process there seems to be no feedback or way of contacting AXA directly.

This sounds like some nightmare scenario.
Has anyone else had to go through this and have they found it satisfactory or a disaster ??

I got knocked off my pedal cycle 3 years ago by a leaner driver, when I came in insure my Cali they questioned me about this collision saying it would increase my premium, I had to argue that would be ridiculous and eventually they saw that.

 

[AlanV]

Where are you based?

Are you sure you don’t want to go via your insurance? That looks very expensive to me. Do you have protected NCD?

I'm based in North London. It does look like I am going to have to pay it myself.

Any suggestions for a reputable garage who know what they are doing would be greatly appreciated.