First time owner insurance advice

[NessL]

The limit (without first notifying) with Comfort is 48 hours. However, I discussed this with them and they said that if you’re leaving your van in a secure car park (example airport long stay) then they’ll be okay to cover - but you do need to advise where you’re parking. If you leave it on a street etc they’ll have a problem. I couldn’t think of a situation when this would occur. If you leave in a hotel car park while staying there, again they’re okay and you don’t need to notify (They assume you’ll check on it each day). Seems reasonable to me.

Ours was parked in a secure car park at a boatyard and they said we weren’t covered.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Ours was parked in a secure car park at a boatyard and they said we weren’t covered.

When I talked to Comfort they said they’d assess the security of the location. I guess it’s down to looking at the location security data.

 

[NessL]

When I talked to Comfort they said they’d assess the security of the location. I guess it’s down to looking at the location security data.

They may well do that. However it cost us a lot of money for a short term policy for 10 days and plans change throughout the year. We certainly won’t be insuring with them again.

 

[WelshGas]

They may well do that. However it cost us a lot of money for a short term policy for 10 days and plans change throughout the year. We certainly won’t be insuring with them again.

It is just a ploy by Comfort to minimise their risk exposure by transferring some risk to you the customer.
When I take out Insurance, besides me taking common sense precautions, such as locking the vehicle, I expect the company to carry the risk and I don't expect to be in constant contact regarding where I park it to check I'm covered.
eg: long weekend at Centre Parks. I'm not going back and forth to check the California is safe. I never did when I had other vehicles, nor should I have to phone up and check they will provide cover. Never did that with the companies that covered the RX8, MX5 or Defender Puma, and I certainly don't with my present insurance company for the California.

 

[WobblyWellers]

Welcome.
Admiral. Don’t, is my advice, the stress and hassle of trying to arrange payment for a break in at the daughters house. 1 month on and they are asking for box’s and manuals of a Makita drill.
The drills 4 years old.
Who keeps cardboard boxes these days.
I’ve had insurance with LV for 23 years on and off.
They were excellent in a few claims I’ve had to make over the years. No fuss. No bother.
They are great. IMHO.

I had my Mercedes stolen off the drive in December and contacting Admiral was awful. Day after day waiting on hold for 2 hours at a time. Never again.

 

[Steve1]

It is just a ploy by Comfort to minimise their risk exposure by transferring some risk to you the customer.
When I take out Insurance, besides me taking common sense precautions, such as locking the vehicle, I expect the company to carry the risk and I don't expect to be in constant contact regarding where I park it to check I'm covered.
eg: long weekend at Centre Parks. I'm not going back and forth to check the California is safe. I never did when I had other vehicles, nor should I have to phone up and check they will provide cover. Never did that with the companies that covered the RX8, MX5 or Defender Puma, and I certainly don't with my present insurance company for the California.

I guess it sort of makes sense if you treat it as motorhome insurance (which it is really). Most motorhomes would either be stored at their nominated storage location or on holiday with you. It's rare to take a motorhome out to an airport car park or centre parks. Campervans don't fit that model as well though, becasue they do get used as normal cars too. Although it's not ideal, for some (me included) if it leads to a cheaper policy which covers everthing else properly it is a compromise I can tolerate. I would rather that compromise than the enforced tracker fitment required by some others, or the lack of cooking fire damage in some other policies.

 

[RubyCoast2021]

Highly recommend Caravan Guard both on price and service including handling a claim.


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[RockinNRollin]

Just been doing some quotes with LV; I googled "LV campervan insurance" and the page I landed on looked promising, but the final page where it spat out a quote seemed generic and there was no mention of it being specific to campervans. Am I in the wrong place or is LV recommended as their "standard" coverage extends to camping activities?

 

[AndyP12345]

You need to call LV for campervan insurance. They are helpful and will make sure you get proper campervan insurance. We have moved from Cali to a 6M Panel Van Conversion for the extra space LV were by far the lowest cost company. Primary difference is the level of contents cover. Not an issue for us as we have that covered under house insurance

 

[George Sharpe]

Hi All
We have just purchased our first California and took out insurance with admiral.
I am concerned that if something went wrong with the gas or electric that normal insurance wouldn’t cover it.
Does anyone have any experience of this / advice?
Thanks

I’ve used Comfort Insurance. They understand campers. I’d try them for comparison

 

[Hawthorn37]

For folks looking at campervan insurance, and need to have camping contents covered, take a close look at your home policy before relying on this for the contents element. Ours needed the contents to be locked in the car, out of sight, ie the boot. That’s not practical for us. Comfort insurance, as with the main Motorhome companies cover camping gear even when deployed at site. The other factor is the value covered. LV would cover upto £1k whereas our home insurance offered £500 as the base policy.

 

[MarmiteBoy321]

I recently spent many hours poring over websites and insurance policies and filling in quote forms for my newly-acquired 2014 Cali Ocean. I thought some feedback might be useful for other new owners looking at comparison quotes (exact quotes will vary greatly between users of course).
I found cheapest specialist campervan insurer was Just Kampers (under £400); next (£400 - £500) Comfort (who no longer offer specific VIP discount), Safeguard (who do offer club VIP discount) and LV; Saga (£500 - £600) then Camping & Motorhome Club (£600 - £700 - which was disappointingly high as I'd insured my caravan with them a few years ago). I also spoke directly to several of them to quiz them on their policies. And I looked at online reviews regarding claims performance.
These specialist campervan/motorhome policies generally seemed to cover what I'd expect under normal usage and holiday conditions, in my opinion. I chose Safeguard in the end and was happy with their coverage (which included European insurance and breakdown cover). I found their call centre easy to deal with and helpful on the couple of times I called them, which I think is a good sign. I think Comfort and LV (best designed web form) would have been good alternatives for my needs.
The comparison websites seemed pretty useless for campervan insurance, so you have to do the fingerwork around individual websites if you want to find several quotes. And it can be difficult to make exact like for like comparisons between different insurers. In the end, though, I found speaking to insurers directly was more productive than just submitting web forms.

 

[Californication69]

I recently spent many hours poring over websites and insurance policies and filling in quote forms for my newly-acquired 2014 Cali Ocean. I thought some feedback might be useful for other new owners looking at comparison quotes (exact quotes will vary greatly between users of course).
I found cheapest specialist campervan insurer was Just Kampers (under £400); next (£400 - £500) Comfort (who no longer offer specific VIP discount), Safeguard (who do offer club VIP discount) and LV; Saga (£500 - £600) then Camping & Motorhome Club (£600 - £700 - which was disappointingly high as I'd insured my caravan with them a few years ago). I also spoke directly to several of them to quiz them on their policies. And I looked at online reviews regarding claims performance.
These specialist campervan/motorhome policies generally seemed to cover what I'd expect under normal usage and holiday conditions, in my opinion. I chose Safeguard in the end and was happy with their coverage (which included European insurance and breakdown cover). I found their call centre easy to deal with and helpful on the couple of times I called them, which I think is a good sign. I think Comfort and LV (best designed web form) would have been good alternatives for my needs.
The comparison websites seemed pretty useless for campervan insurance, so you have to do the fingerwork around individual websites if you want to find several quotes. And it can be difficult to make exact like for like comparisons between different insurers. In the end, though, I found speaking to insurers directly was more productive than just submitting web forms.

I concur.
Used LV for 24 years and found them impeccable
Got wife’s car, California and the house insurance. On a new “all in one multi house / car policy.

 

[Pinocchio_888]

I have just spent a couple of hours looking at insurance for my first time purchase.

Just Kamper - Tracker needed but they can supply for £93 (including first years subscription) which I thought was a good idea, as you fit yourself, although only fits their criteria and so won’t be thatcham approved. The company they were quoting didn’t offer new for old cover meaning gap insurance would be required.

Caravan Guard - 2 years new for old (24k Miles) - Tracker required. Didn’t provide a quote online.

LV Campervan - No Tracker needed but premium was over £1,000.

Comfort Insurance were by far the cheapest at £456; however, they insist on having a tracker. I did a quick search for S5 or S7 Tracker and found a cheap S7 Retrieve Battery powered tracker for £189, plus £119 first years subscription. That totals £764.

Safeguard Insurance will provide cover for £854 without the need for a Tracker.

Both provide new for old cover, although I am swaying towards Safeguard to avoid having to fit a tracker and having the added annual subscription fee on top.

Is it worth having the tracker fitted and has anyone had one of the *battery powered trackers fitted?

 

[Kayleigh]

I had a tracker fitted for the free insurance on my Ocean. The link below is likely about the cheapest you can get. When I later swapped it over to my Beach it cost £125 extra. Seems to do its job of tracking the van and being S5 it is the level often required by insurers.

Regarding insurance costs, they seem to have risen quite a bit over the last few years. Mine was under £300 in 2020, £450 last year and the latest renewal is £650. All with no changes to the policy apart from increasing my excesses to try and reduce the cost last year.

Maybe we are subsidising all those EVs that get written off by repairers that can’t afford the required 24 hour surveillance and dedicated EV storage area, but that’s another topic!!

S5 VTS GPS tracking System – Connect My Car

Price includes fitting Includes 1-year Subscription The Vodafone Protect Connect S5 VTS GPS tracking system Cat S5 VTS tracker is a step up from any other entry-level trackers. The Vodafone Protect Connect S5 VTS GPS tracking system is a Thatcham Category S5 approved tracking system. A...

www.connectmycar.com